Sister!
by AlmineGoneWild
Summary: A stranger arrives in Konoha claiming to be Sasuke Uchiha's older sister. After settling in with her husband, not only does she take in her younger brother but she adopts Naruto Uzumaki as well. Now together as a family, they must struggle through the hardships of the ninja world and become stronger as a dark force begins to take form and threatens their bonds.
1. Prologue

Sister!

By Almine H

 _He sat by the river again and looked out into the setting sun. It'd become his habit since he didn't know what else to do with his time. His head was spinning with thoughts again of what had happened in the past three weeks. He still couldn't wrap his head around the fact that they were gone; all of them; his mother, father, aunt and uncle, his entire clan wiped in one night by none other than his own older brother whom he'd looked up to and idolized._

 _Now the tears came once more as he remembered Itatchi Uchiha his elder sibling. His heart still ached and even though he'd been told to foster his hatred for his older brother so that one day he might kill him, Sasuke couldn't bring himself to do so at the moment, it just hurt too much. He began to hiccup as he cried somewhat silently and shook. Then he heard a familiar voice from behind him however soft it was._

 _"_ _See, he's here like I said," exclaimed the voice of Sasuke's academy classmate Naruto Uzumaki. He could tell by the voice that it was him and personally he felt embarrassed that Naruto was watching him cry from behind. He tensed and shook now with embarrassment and some rage._

 _"_ _Thank you Naruto," said another voice, a female's voice. Sasuke heard the shuffling of feet behind him and he turned his head to glance over his shoulder when she called out his name. "Sasuke." Sasuke looked up to see a beautiful young woman standing before him, tall and with long black hair. She had a naturally flowing face which seemed flawless;_ _ **just like mother's,**_ _thought Sasuke although the memory started to choke him up. The woman knelt down beside him, a soft and kind smile upon her face. She wore the leaf village headband and as Sasuke continued to analyze her he noticed the woman really did look a lot like his mother. This only caused Sasuke to shake more, trying to get the picture out of his head so he wouldn't break down bawling in front of Naruto who stood just behind her, nervously glancing back and forth between them and the river._

 _"_ _Who are you?" he tried asking in a threatening tone. However his voice wavered some with emotion. The woman continued smiling as she answered him but didn't at the same time._

 _"_ _My, you've certainly grown, haven't you Sasuke? You're much bigger than when I left the village back then," she stated. Sasuke wasn't in the mood for games._

 _"_ _I said who are you?" he re asked his question then glanced angrily at Naruto again. "And what're you doing here?" Naruto flinched and blushed, turning away from the harshness of Sasuke's words. Normally he would've retorted or have yelled angrily at the Uchiha but Naruto was still too confused about his own current situation to do so. The black haired woman placed a tender hand upon the young Uchiha's shoulder._

 _"_ _I'm sorry Sasuke," she apologized, though what for was unclear to Sasuke. "I wish I could've been home sooner but as soon as I got word of what happened from Lord Third well…I got home as quickly as I could and…oh that's right," she chuckled slightly. "Listen to me rambling on and you still don't know who I am. Sasuke…I know mother and father must not have mentioned me in order to keep you safe and Itatchi must've done the same but My name is Sarah, Sarah Uchiha and I'm your older sister."_

 _It took a while for what she'd said to register. Suddenly Sasuke was leaping back defensively from her embrace whilst shaking angry and confused._

 _"_ _What are you talking about I don't have an older sister. Who are you really?!" he demanded. She sighed._

 _"_ _Sorry Sasuke but I am. You never knew about my existence because when I was young I was chosen for a special task because of my special sharingan abilities and so I was taken from the village to be trained in the art of the cat sage, a tradition in our clan. Mother and Father must not have told you about me because they were sworn to secrecy on the matter and Itatchi as well. The only other one who knew of my leaving long ago was the fourth hokage and the third."_

 _Sasuke thought about it for a while but then became suspicious. "Oh yeah and what proof can you give me?" he asked stubbornly. Sarah seemed taken aback for a moment._

 _"_ _Proof?" she questioned. She thought long and hard and finally gave her soft smile again. "Here," she said as she reached into her ninja pouch by her side. She pulled out a little square photo and showed it to him. Sasuke leaned forward, taking it in his hands his eyes widening._

 _It was a photograph of the whole family together with him as a baby in Itatchi's and Sarah's arms. Meanwhile his parents stood behind him smiling as did his aunt and uncle. Then there were two extra people. A man with bright blonde hair and sapphire eyes beaming while beside him stood a young woman with long beautiful red hair and a slight bulge sticking out from her stomach. She held it lovingly as she stared into the camera and stood right next to his own mother. Sasuke cocked an eyebrow._

 _"_ _Ok but who're these people?" he wondered. Sarah leaned in to see who he was talking about and smiled again warmer._

 _"_ _That is Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki," she explained. Sasuke's eyes widened as he recognized the name Uzumaki. "They're Naruto's parents," Sarah continued, confirming Sasuke's suspicions. He was surprised to see them in the photo._

 _"_ _Is this for real?" he asked still looking at the photo. He glanced up at Naruto who noticed as he too was trying to get a peek and looked away sheepishly, blushing redder. Sarah nodded, taking the photo back and carefully putting it in her little pouch. She smiled again at Sasuke._

 _"_ _Yes and I am your sister," she confirmed with her words. "In the time I've been away, I've been married too and now after everything that's happened, I'm now your official guardian along with my husband, Kisuke. You that is and of course Naruto." The younger Uchiha looked absolutely shocked. "I've just finished adopting him into the family. Since it's getting late now, why don't we all go home and I'll cook dinner?" Sasuke didn't quite know how to respond._

 _"_ _This is crazy!" he stated. "Why did you adopt Naruto, he's not an Uchiha and what about Itatchi, he's still out there and…and mom and dad; the clan and…I don't understand!" he cried out in frustration, tears now visible on his cheeks. Sarah then pulled her little brother into a much needed hug. This surprised Sasuke but it was also what he'd needed for such a long time since in the past three weeks, he'd become so tense with emotion he couldn't comprehend anything. His voice caught in his throat._

 _"_ _It's okay Sasuke," his Sister consoled. "I miss mother and father too and I'm just as confused about Itatchi as you are. However, I won't let that all cloud my judgement because I know that I still have you and now we have a new brother too and I'm certain you'll like Kisuke. He can be a bit of a bad jokester at times but he's very sweet. I promise that I'll explain everything," she promised._

 _Sasuke wanted to protest but at that moment he more than anything just wanted to be held by somebody and then the tears came although he didn't bawl he just let them fall silently whilst shuddering and hiccupping as they did. Meanwhile, Naruto was feeling just as flabbergasted as Sasuke. Not only had a complete and random stranger come in and claimed to be good friends with his parents whom he'd known nothing about but she'd also adopted him without hesitation or remorse. In fact she was so unlike the other villagers that it'd caught him off guard by how nice she was. He wondered if this was what it felt like to have a mother or an older sister._

 _After a while, Sarah looked up and gestured for Naruto, who still didn't feel like he belonged, to come over. He did so hesitantly at first and was pulled into the hug with Sarah and Sasuke who didn't even care anymore that the blonde had joined them. They remained like this for a while. Then Sarah let them go giving her most sincere and heart-warming smile, a glimmer of some tears in her eyes as Sasuke and Naruto wiped their own tears away with their hands. They looked back at her not knowing what was next._

 _"_ _Let's go home," Sarah said. They nodded then allowed the Kunoich to take one of their hands in each of her own and guide them up the embankment and down the road towards where she and her husband had settled into yesterday. The boys didn't even try to get up to their old fighting habits; they just gazed up at the newest anomaly that'd entered their lives wondering just what was to come next._


	2. Graduation

**_Chapter 1_**

 ** _(Graduation!)_**

It was a beautiful day for the leaf village as the sun shone down enveloping it in its warm rays. The many streets of people were bustling with activity. However, a loud shriek erupted causing all eyes to stop and stare at the monument where the faces of the past four hokage sat sturdily only to have white paint dripping down the first hokage's nose from the nostril; the characters spelling "loser" written boldly on the headband of the second hokage; a running nose and teary eyes for the third and as for the fourth hokage, his eyes had giant eyelashes sticking out of the bottom, teary eyes and a runny nose. Meanwhile, two jonin ninjas were chasing the blonde haired boy responsible for the vandalism through the streets as he laughed his head off.

"Naruto, come back here!" one of them shouted.

"You've crossed the line this time Naruto!" yelled the other. Naruto just laughed then leapt off of the ground with the ninjas still in pursuit. He held a can of yellow paint in one of his hands as he ran, sloshing it all over the place including his jumpsuit.

"Give it up," Naruto cackled in reply. "You're just bent because you don't have the guts to do what I do, do ya?! Losers! Wannabe's! You'll never catch me!" Naruto continued running and making the ninjas really angry as he kept evading them. Meanwhile, another boy was also being chased. His raven black hair glinted in the sun. He wasn't laughing as loud as his companion though as he tried to think of a way to lose the jonin's on his tail. He quickly took in his surroundings and devised the perfect escape strategy. He smirked as he went to execute it and once it had been he'd managed to evade them completely leaving his pursuers dumbfounded.

"Hey, where'd he go?" one asked scratching his head.

"I could've sworn he was here just a second ago," the other said. Meanwhile, Sasuke Uchiha snickered some from his hiding place. As they left to go search for him again, Sasuke decided to leave the can of green paint he'd been carrying behind and go meet up with his partner in crime.

Back with Naruto, the ninjas chasing him were still having no luck catching the young and obnoxious blonde. Naruto continued cackling as he landed once more on the ground and took off again into the air, leaping from roof to roof as the ninjas followed. However, where Naruto had touched down, a camouflage cover was dropped to not only reveal Naruto but Sasuke as well who'd caught up and hid at the last second. Naruto stared after their "would be" captors and chuckled whilst reaching back to scratch his head.

"That was too easy," he laughed. Meanwhile Sasuke watched after them scoffing with a smirk on his face.

"Heh and they call themselves Jonin!" Sasuke mocked. They raised their hands and high fived each other before an angry but familiar voice called them out from behind.

"Oh yeah, Naruto, Sasuke!" shouted Iruka Sensei from behind. Naruto being spooked, yelled out and jumped in the air flailing then fell on his butt while Sasuke yelled out and jumped away from their sensei also spooked by the suddenness and took up a defense stance, breathing rapidly. They calmed down a bit when they saw it was only Iruka.

"Where'd you come from Iruka Sensei?" questioned the young blonde. "What're you doing here?" Sasuke rolled his eyes and looked away. Iruka's eye twitched.

"No, what are you doing here, you two are supposed to be in class," Iruka said pointing an accusatory finger at both Naruto and Sasuke. Sasuke just humphed while crossing his arms and looking away.

"What's the point when I already know everything anyway?" he questioned the Jonin.

"Yeah, I don't see why we have to sit around all day bored out of our minds. I can just look off Sasuke's answers!" Naruto exclaimed. Iruka's eye twitched once more.

"Alright then, if that's the way it's gonna be," he said. The two boys gave their sensei a questioning look with some worry etched in on the side. A bit later, the two were hog tied and sitting at the front of their academy classroom for everyone to see. Iruka stood over them with his arms crossed.

"I'm at the end of my rope you two," he stated. "Naruto, you failed the graduation test last time and the time before that and Sasuke you might think you know everything but being arrogant and skipping class doesn't get you past the graduation tests either. Tomorrow is when you two will have another chance and now you're messing up again!" Naruto humphed at his teacher and turned his head away annoyed while Sasuke just glared daggers up at his sensei's eyes for his and Naruto's recent humiliation. Once again, Iruka's eye twitched irritably.

"Fine then, since you both missed it Naruto; Sasuke, everyone will review the transformation jutsu!" A loud groan of protest sounded throughout the room. A few minutes later, Naruto and Sasuke were untied and standing in line with everyone else. Iruka held a clip board with all of his student's names getting ready to start. As they stood there, Shikamaru Nara started complaining while staring at the two offenders.

"This is a total waste of time you guys," he groaned, letting them know his annoyance. Another of their classmates, Ino Yamanaka joined in.

"Yeah, we always have to pay for your screw ups!" she said whilst glaring daggers at souly Naruto.

"Like we care!" Naruto huffed.

"Besides what're you complaining about Nara?" Sasuke stated dryly. "I thought you hated sitting around and doing nothing all class." Shikamaru Humphed.

"Yeah well I hate physical labor more," he complained.

"Very good Sakura," Iruka complimented the first student he'd called. Sakura meanwhile beamed with pride having completed her transformation then turned to look at Sasuke expectantly.

"Didjya see that Sasuke?" she asked hopefully. Iruka interrupted her by calling Sasuke's name next. She continued beaming as she went back to her seat. Sasuke sighed as he stepped forward.

"Why are girls so annoying?" he wondered as he went.

"Beats me," Naruto replied as he and Ino entered a glaring contest. It was short lived however as Iruka growled out Sasuke's name from the front of the room after his transformation causing the two combatants to look forward. Naruto almost fell over laughing although he tried to contain it.

To get back at Iruka for the whole roped thing, Sasuke had transformed into Iruka but without any clothes on. Luckily the smoke from the transformation covered his hiney from the rest of the class which had the boys laughing and the girls snickering. Iruka meanwhile was not pleased. Sasuke transformed back and stalked back to his seat with a smirk on his face. His transformation had given Naruto a naughtier idea.

Iruka, trying to push the Uchiha's offense to the back of his mind to be dealt with later, then called up Naruto's name and Naruto smugly walked up to the front of the class. Shikamaru watched him thinking, _he's definitely up to something._

Naruto stood at the front now with the rest of the class, save for Sasuke and a certain blue haired girl down the line, staring daggers at his back blaming him for their predicament. Naruto continued grinning as he made the appropriate sign for the transformation.

"Transform!" he stated loudly. The sound of moving chakra echoed throughout the room and in a puff of smoke, Naruto had transformed but not into his teacher. Instead, in Naruto's place stood a naked woman with huge breasts looking sexily at Iruka. She winked at him and said, "Hey sensei, gimme an A plus; yeah?" in the most sexiest voice she could manage. Iruka was caught completely by surprise and before he knew it, a fountain of blood erupted from his nose sending him swirling backwards dizzily. Naruto meanwhile had transformed back laughing hard.

"Gotcha!" he exclaimed. "That's my sexy jutsu!" he continued laughing. Sasuke meanwhile was trying to suppress an ugly grin. Iruka was back on his feet having had it with his two troublemakers.

"Cut the stupid tricks!" he yelled. "This is your last warning!" and with that, the blonde made his way back to his seat, fist bumping his best friend and only brother along the way.

Much later however, the two were grumbling again as Iruka supervised their cleaning of the Hokage monument. Naruto and Sasuke were both working on the first hokage's face.

"Humph, this sucks!" Naruto grumbled to himself.

"Yeah I thought it looked rather fitting," Sasuke grumbled back. They shared a quick glance and a faint smirk then turned back to their jobs.

"You two aren't going home till you've cleaned off every single drop of paint!" Iruka stated. "And don't think I'm not telling Sarah about this!" Sasuke scoffed.

"Heh, whatever, she's away on a mission right now," he said. Iruka glared down at the Uchiha.

"Well then I suppose telling Kisuke will suffice."

"Can't," said Naruto. "He's on the road again for work." Iruka was taken aback.

"Oh!" he exclaimed. He entered into deep thought over the matter. "Hey you guys," he finally called down. The two boys looked up.

"Yeah, what do you want now sensei?" questioned Naruto grumpily. Iruka looked up at the sky with his index finger on his chin in thought.

"Well, I was just thinking…maybe when you have this all cleaned up, I can take you both out for some ramen since Sarah and Kisuke are away. What do you think?" He looked down at Naruto's now lit up face, excited at the idea. Then Iruka turned to Sasuke who looked just as pleased but not as enthusiastic since ramen wasn't his favourite food in the world, although it did come in as a close second. Iruka smiled now that he had the boy's attention.

"Hah, now that's some serious motivation, I'll have this clean in no time!" exclaimed the blonde excitedly. Then he turned to Sasuke grinning. "And don't worry Sasuke, if you get tired I'll just pick up your slack!" Sasuke scoffed back at him.

"Heh, my slack?" he questioned mockingly. "Last time I checked, you're the lazy one when it comes to chores!"

"What, no way, that's totally you. You're always leaving them to the last minute!" Naruto protested.

"At least I get them done," retorted Sasuke. "You don't even finish the job half the time! I'll probably have to pick up your slack because you'll get too lazy!"

"Oh yeah tough guy, bring it on! I'll have this monument cleaned faster than it was painted!" Naruto turned away from Sasuke then and started scrubbing like crazy. Sasuke growled getting started vigorously scrubbing at his own end.

"Not it I finish first! Just watch, with my speed I'll clean circles around you loser!" he snapped back.

"Dream on, dick face!" Naruto countered.

"Dumbass!" Sasuke.

"Dill-weed!" Naruto.

"Pervert!" Sasuke again and it continued on like that for the rest of the cleanup. Iruka sat back and sighed as he watched his two students turn yet another simple task into a heated competition. At least it wasn't sparring practice. It was hard enough to separate them from battling one another and he couldn't even begin to imagine what kind of fights they got into at home. He sighed again at the thought. His students were just too stubborn for their own good sometimes.

Eventually the monument was cleaned and by this time the sun was already going down. However, despite the long hours, the two were still intent on calling each other names only as they were now exhausted they weren't as profane.

"Bird brain!" Naruto huffed.

"Booger breath!" Sasuke wheezed. Iruka decided to put an end to it all.

"Alright you two, that's enough. The monument's clean and a promise is a promise so, who's up for ramen?" The two boys looked at their sensei slightly confused as they tried to remember why they'd started their competition again. Finally they smiled and nodded, having just enough energy to make it to Ichiraku Ramen the famous leaf's ramen noodle shop.

Naruto, Sasuke and Iruka placed their orders and once the food was in front of them, they began to eat, Naruto guzzling his down faster than the others. As they ate, Iruka looked over at his two academy students curiously.

"Naruto, Sasuke," Iruka started. The two looked up from their meals acknowledging their teacher. "Why would you do that to the hokage faces? I mean you know who the hokage are, don't you?"

"Of course we do," Naruto confirmed through the slurping of his noodles.

"They're the shadow ninjas of the hidden leaf village, the leaders," Sasuke stated. Naruto finished his bowl and sighed with relief.

"Yeah, everybody knows. They were the greatest shinobi of their time right, the best of best, undefeated ninja champs?" he paused for a moment and looked up at the ceiling in thought. "And dad's the one who saved the village from the nine tailed fox long ago, he's the most amazing." Iruka became even more befuddled.

"Then why did you do it especially if you know your father was the fourth hokage?" he questioned the young blonde. The boy took a while to respond but when he did it was with a wide grin.

"Because I'm going to be greater than any of them, even dad. Me, Naruto, the next hokage! A ninja legend! Then everyone will have to stop disrespecting me and look up to me and not because I'm the fourth's kid, believe it ya know!" Iruka looked at his student with interest as he swallowed some more ramen. He cleared his throat.

"I see." Then he glanced over at Sasuke. "And you Sasuke, why did you get involved with this? Come on, you must have a reason." Sasuke finished his own bowl of ramen and glanced at his teacher.

"Why you ask?" he pondered. He then thought about it for a second. "Huh, because I was bored!" Iruka gave his second student an unamused and disbelieving look.

"You were bored?" he inquired trying to see if he'd heard right. Sasuke closed his eyes and turned away slightly.

"Yup!" he clarified. Iruka sighed feeling older than usual and tired. Then Naruto perked up some as he turned to his sensei.

"Oh yeah, by the way, I kind of wanna ask a little favor sensei," he said clasping his hands together in the begging position.

"Hm, do you want another bowl?" Iruka questioned the blonde. Naruto shook his head.

"Mm, mm! I…wanna try on your headband, c'mon please!" he begged. Iruka was slightly taken aback but recovered quickly with a chuckle.

"Oh this?" he asked tugging at his leaf headband. "No way! You can only wear the leaf headband when you finally graduate from the academy and become a ninja. You've gotta pass the test tomorrow." Naruto groaned.

"Awn, that is so unfair!" he complained causing both Sasuke and Iruka to laugh lightly. Sasuke elbowed him lightly in the side.

"Heh, you can't become hokage if you don't become a ninja tomorrow with the rest of us," he hinted. Naruto just kept grumbling.

"I want another bowl!" he declared now as there was nothing else to do to get out of stressing over the upcoming test. Iruka chuckled.

"Hey is that why you took off your goggles?" he asked indicating the green goggles Naruto usually wore which sat on the counter. However, Iruka didn't get an answer as the old ramen man placed another bowl of ramen before him and he began eating. Sasuke then looked up at the man.

"Another for me too please," he stated politely. The old man nodded and happily went about his daily routine of preparing ramen for hungry customers. Iruka smiled as he watched his two students eating their new bowls of ramen. He thought back to the olden days when the two hadn't spent as much time together, before the Uchiha massacre and before Naruto had really been motivated to stay with the academy.

The two had been two boys who'd barely even looked at one another or even acknowledged the other one's presence. However, that'd all changed after the events of the massacre and then about three weeks later, Sarah Uchiha, the eldest daughter of the head of the Uchiha clan had returned home to Konoha after having trained for years to become the next legendary cat sage of the Uchiha clan. She'd only taken a day to settle down and then the next day had signed all of the legal documents to adopt Naruto and had retrieved her down trodden younger brother from his misery.

Next, it'd been revealed to everyone that she'd been married while away and had brought home a husband along with the funds to procure a different residence other than the old Uchiha estate claiming that it held too many good and bad memories. Upon the boy's arrival at the new home, the two hadn't gotten along right away but then Sarah had broken the ice and with the third's blessing, had been allowed to tell Naruto of his parentage and Sasuke a little more about his own clan. Naruto hadn't been allowed to tell anyone else in the village and he'd agreed to Sarah's terms but that hadn't stopped him from shocking Iruka with the news on a ramen run.

Slowly but surely after the merging into a new family, the two boys Naruto and Sasuke had made it obvious they didn't like one another but had eventually grown upon one another becoming not only rivals but best friends and brothers. As soon as they'd gotten used to each other though, that had been when the pranks Naruto had used to pull by his lonesome had evolved into something worse for the village as Sasuke eventually had joined his brother as a way to ease the pain of his great loss. Ultimately the Uchiha didn't care about what the village thought of him or Naruto and whenever someone went to torment Naruto they would receive a death glare and a warning from Sasuke causing them to back off.

Ultimately, despite the pranks they pulled together and the constant fighting they did to prove who was stronger, Iruka was glad Naruto had found some form of peace in the village, Sasuke too. Yes it was a small and somewhat broken and abstract family but Sarah Uchiha, Kisuke and the boys were a family nonetheless.

Soon it got really late and Iruka wound up walking the boys home listening to their bickering over the dumbest matter he'd ever heard all the way. Finally they got to the front walkway to the house.

"Hey, a light's on," noted Naruto. Sasuke and Iruka looked up to see that it was true. Then as if on cue, the door opened up to reveal Kisuke home early from work.

"Kisuke?" Sasuke asked bewildered. Kisuke nodded acknowledging the Uchiha.

"Sasuke; Naruto; Iruka. How're things going? I hope you boys had the decency to at least to save that paint for someone who might actually need it!" The boys winced as they realized he knew. Iruka walked forward as did Kisuke until they met in the middle.

"I imagine that lord third told you the news," Iruka inquired. Kisuke nodded giving Naruto and Sasuke a side glance. He turned his attention back to their teacher.

"Indeed and I also heard they had to clean up after themselves too. I'm just glad they were able to right their wrong." Iruka nodded.

"Well then, I guess I'll leave them in your capable hands. Their final test is tomorrow so I suggest an early sleep for an early start."

"Of course," Kisuke replied. "And don't worry; I'm sure it won't happen again, will it boys!" Kisuke turned his special glare on Sasuke and Naruto as they walked towards the entry of the house behind him. They winced unable to escape the piercing glare.

"Nope, never again," Naruto gulped.

"It was just a phase," Sasuke confirmed with a nod as they slipped inside. Kisuke turned back to Iruka with a chuckle.

"I'm afraid I'm not as authoritative as my wife as I can only manage an effective glare," he stated sheepishly reaching back to scratch his head. "But I imagine she'll have her own form of punishment for them when she gets back." Iruka laughed lightly.

"Oh I don't doubt that," he agreed. "Not one bit." Iruka knew too well from witnessing one of those said punishments that although Sarah Uchiha could be a sweet girl, if you got on her bad side, you'd be toasted before you knew it. Iruka glanced up at the black sky above, sighed then turned.

"I'll see you around Kisuke," he said as he waved a hand and walked away. Kisuke watched as the man disappeared into the darkened streets of Konoha. He sighed once more before turning around and entering the house he shared with his wife and little brothers whilst closing the door. He then made his way into the living room where the guilty two were already waiting for the lecture. Kisuke took a seat opposite them and folded his hands in his lap.

"So here we are again," he finally said breaking the silence. "Do you two have anything to say for yourselves?" He watched and waited expectantly as the boys thought it over.

"Instead of painting we should stick to being ninjas?" Sasuke shrugged.

"Getting on Iruka sensei's bad side then good side gets us free ramen!" Naruto stated. Clearly they were trying to hide some of their shame but nevertheless this didn't please Kisuke and they could tell as he just continued waiting. The two shared a glance and sighed heavily.

"We're sorry!" they apologized in unison. Kisuke nodded, acknowledging the right answer. Then he sighed and leaned back on the chair he was on.

"What're we ever going to do with you two?" he wondered aloud. "I just hope you two make it as ninjas tomorrow because maybe then you'll smarten up."

"That's right!" Naruto exclaimed loudly. "Tomorrow's the last test to see if we make it as ninjas. Then the real fun begins. No more sitting on our butts and taking notes. We'll finally get to train!" He grinned widely and showed his obvious excitement but Kisuke could also tell that he was kind of nervous too.

"Tomorrow's test is going to be easy, no sweat!" Sasuke stated as he sat back on the sofa with his arms behind his head. "We'll be ninjas before you know it!"

"I wouldn't get ahead of myself just yet you two," said Kisuke seriously. The boys glanced at him. "You see, you might be taking tests tomorrow and you might pass but…remember that tomorrow's test is only the beginning of a series of tests that will throw themselves at you when you least expect them to. The tests to come will test your skills, your views on life, your own bond as brothers. No test in life is easy and you have to be ready for that but if you can endure those tests one after the other then I have no doubt in my mind that you'll make excellent shinobi. However, don't become so arrogant that it costs you your life alright?"

"Right!" Naruto and Sasuke agreed in unison, Naruto giving a curt nod. Kisuke smiled then leaned forward leaning on his knees and glanced at the nearby digital wall clock. He sighed as he stretched.

"Well it's late now and you heard Iruka," he stated. "If you want a snack before bed then get it now then it's time to turn in okay?"

"Alright!" Naruto Exclaimed. He leapt up and ran to the kitchen immediately thinking of Sarah's leftover chocolate cake in the fridge. Sasuke stood, placing his hands in his pockets and nodded in reply to Kisuke's suggestion. As he headed to the kitchen he could see Naruto already had the cake on the counter.

"Naruto, cut me a slice to won't you?" he asked as he headed in and pulled out the whipped cream.

"Sure but pull out the berries too!" Sasuke did so and as Kisuke entered the kitchen he too asked for a small slice of his wife's homemade confection. The three then sat down and ate their treat. As soon as they were done, they put everything away and washed the dishes then went upstairs. The boys got ready for bed, Naruto dawning his favourite night cap after having gotten dressed and brushing his teeth. Then the two went to their respective rooms after wishing the other goodnight and were out of the conscious world by the time Kisuke came in to check on them later.

He smiled as he then made his way to the room he and his wife would share whenever they were home at the same time. He'd be sleeping alone tonight but he knew that everything would be alright. He sighed as he crawled into bed with just his boxers then as the confines of sleep came to take him away he had one last thought directed to the two boys. _Naruto, Sasuke…make us proud!_ And then he slept the rest of the night.

* * *

"We will now start the final exam," exclaimed Iruka from the front of the room. All of the students were gathered in their academy classroom, some eager to show what they had and some nervous at the thought of failing. Amongst these nervous people was Naruto. He couldn't help tapping his foot throughout the whole time Iruka was talking. Sasuke meanwhile sat in his seat cool and collected only half paying attention to the teacher.

"When your name is called, proceed to the testing room," Iruka continued. "The final test will be on…the clone jutsu." Upon hearing this, both Sasuke and Naruto deadpanned.

 _Clone jutsu?_ Sasuke thought worriedly. _But that's Naruto's worst technique._

 _I'm screwed!_ Naruto mentally yelled. _That's my worst jutsu. Great…I'm never gonna pass and Sasuke's gonna kill me!_ As the names began being called, Naruto's foot tapped louder and more rapidly as he also began perspiring from the stress. As they waited for their names to be called, Sasuke stood from his seat and approached Naruto. Naruto glanced up.

"Hey c'mon, you've got it this time," Sasuke encouraged. He patted his adopted brother on the back. Naruto remained panicked.

"Heh, yeah right!" he exclaimed. "It's easy for you to say since you can ace anything! Gah, why couldn't it be transformation or substitution or something?" Sasuke then smacked him upside the head. "Ow, hey what was that for?!" roared the blonde turning on the standing raven haired boy. Sasuke scoffed.

"For being such a loser," he replied simply. "If you ever want to become hokage someday this is the only way and a true shinobi never loses his cool in the heat of battle so just stop thinking about it and just do it when the time comes! Oh and if you don't pass, I'll shred all of you ramen coupons when I get home after I strangle you!"

This threat now held the blonde's attention. He was rearing to go afterwards as his precious ramen at a lower price was at stake.

"Fine then, I will pass!" he declared. "In fact when I do, it'll be so amazing it'll make your passing look like a total failure!" Sasuke grinned, pulling Naruto into a choking head lock causing Naruto to start making choking noises.

"Heh, as if. I'm not a loser like you Naruto!" Sasuke continued his choke hold while Naruto struggled to break free. Finally they were interrupted as Sasuke's name was called. Iruka raised an eyebrow at their current posture when he looked up. The Uchiha then grinned and let go and began to exit the classroom. He called back as he left with a wave over his shoulder,

"Alright, my turn. I'd better see you on the other side Naruto!" he said. Then he was gone leaving a grinning Naruto still rubbing his neck. Finally when his name was called, Naruto stood on somewhat shaky legs and walked into the examination room.

Inside, Iruka sensei and Mizuki sensei sat behind a table filled with leaf village headbands. Naruto gulped then took a deep breath as he faced his examiners. _Alright, get it together Naruto,_ he told himself. _If Sasuke could do this then so can you; believe it ya know!"_ Naruto took up a stance with a very concentrated look on his face filled with determination. He brought his hands together to form the simple hand sign for the clone jutsu and as he did so, called forth all of his chakra, pouring his entire heart and soul into the mixture. The chakra became visible slightly, surrounding him and circulating. He closed his eyes and breathed in then out.

"Clone Jutsu!" he called out as he finally executed it. There was a puff of smoke as the chakra converged and reacted to make the clone. Still breathing steadily as the smoke cloud dispersed, he slowly opened his eyes to see a very disappointed Iruka sensei with his eye twitching while Mizuki just stared at what was supposed to be Naruto's clone. All of a sudden, Naruto's confidence left him as he slowly turned towards the dreaded outcome of his jutsu and nearly cried out in frustration.

The clone on the ground couldn't even be called a clone as it lay flopped over with its tongue sticking out looking as though it hadn't seen the sun ever or had been printed out of a photocopier with not enough ink. The eyes were lifeless and despite it bearing a resemblance to Naruto, Naruto could tell that it was the most pathetic clone he'd ever seen just like the last time only this time it looked worse. Naruto began shaking in humiliation and frustration praying that maybe, just maybe, Iruka would let him have a pity pass. However his hopes were dashed as Iruka declared,

"You fail!" Naruto took a step to steady himself as his body was going through a torrent of different emotions, mainly anger and embarrassment. Mizuki meanwhile looked up from his seat and glanced over at his partner.

"Iruka sensei," he started, calling the other teacher's attention. "He's off but his moves weren't bad and he did hang in there and replicate. This is his third try so you know he really wants to become a ninja. We could cut him a break and pass him." Upon hearing this, there was new hope in Naruto's heart as he listened intently to see if his sensei would be swayed. Iruka sighed.

"Mizuki sensei," Iruka responded. "The other students created at least three effective replications. But Naruto could only create one and look at it…it's pitiful. I can't pass him." The new news made Naruto flush red and get even angrier than he'd been before. But all he did was grind his teeth and storm out of the room. Iruka looked after him feeling sorry for the boy and wishing there was something he could do.

Naruto meanwhile found his way to the outside of the academy, to the playground space and stalked over to his favourite tree swing across from the academy. Sasuke, who'd been waiting for him on an above tree branch, took the blonde's frustrated grumbling and mumbling under his breath as the sign that he hadn't passed. Sasuke watched his adopted brother as he mounted the swing, sitting sideways and glaring back at all of the other students that'd passed with envy. Sasuke tried to think of something to say to make him feel better but couldn't come up with anything at the moment so he just remained silent and pondering while he and Naruto watched from across the way as the parents came to collect their kids after graduation.

"Hey did you see that," one of the new ninjas spoke up with pride, speaking with his friends.

"They passed me with flying colours," claimed another nearby.

"They called me first," bragged someone else. Meanwhile the parents were saying how proud they were of their kids and hugging and laughing them in one big cluster whilst chatting amongst their neighbors. Sasuke watched from above while Naruto gazed on, saddened by the embracing of the families. Meanwhile Sasuke's own heart, felt a twinge of sadness as he remembered his own family then let his mind wander to wondering if Sarah would be home tonight. He was pulled from his thoughts from some women talking from the cluster of grownups and couldn't help hearing their conversation.

"There, you see him?" asked a woman of her friend. Sasuke sat up to hear better.

"It's that boy," confirmed her friend nodding her head. "I heard he's the only one who failed."

"Well it serves him right!" said the first again. "Just imagine what would happen if he became a ninja." And immediately, a new wave of rage rushed through Sasuke as he realized they were talking about Naruto and were being loud on purpose so he could hear them. _Stupid losers,_ he thought staring daggers at them. _Why do they always have to pick on Naruto and say harsh things? They're supposed to be grownups but they act like children. They should know better, the bitches._

"Shh, we're not allowed to talk about that!" the first offender cut her friend off. Sasuke continued staring daggers at them while Naruto just readjusted his favourite green goggles on top of his head. The two then heard the sound of approaching footsteps and looked up to see that Mizuki sensei had approached the tree. He gave his most sincere smile.

"Naruto," he stated. "Mind if I talk to you for a second?" he questioned. Naruto seemed taken by surprise. "It's about the exams today," he continued. Naruto took a while to finally nod in agreement. As they got up to leave, Sasuke leapt down from his branch, calling forth their attention. He glanced at Naruto quickly then looked away again as he started walking.

"I'll wait for you at the usual rendezvous," he called over his shoulder.

"Okay," Naruto called after him. "Oh and here!" Sasuke stopped and turned slightly, just in time to catch Gama-Chan, Naruto's frog shaped wallet. Naruto grinned. "Since I failed, I guess the candy run's on me today," he said sheepishly. Sasuke gave a faint smile the shook his head as he turned.

"Forget it, we'll go halvsies today. See ya later." And with that, the Uchiha began making his way down the road. He'd hidden his new leaf headband in his bag as he hadn't felt in the mood to brag to Naruto that day. Naruto then followed Mizuki sensei to a protruding ledge from Mizuki's flat. There was a brief yet long moment of silence as they stared off into the setting sun. Finally Mizuki broke it.

"Iruka sensei's tough, but he's not against you," he stated.

"Then why," Naruto wondered, "Why only me?" he stared down at his sandaled feet as he swung them back and forth over the ledge.

"He wants you to be strong with all his heart," Mizuki explained. "But…that will never happen if he goes easy on you." Mizuki took a glance over at the blonde looking down and smiled lightly. "He's like you, no parents; no family."

"But…" Naruto spoke up. "This time I really wanted to graduate. This time I wanted to move forward with Sasuke and…I think he wanted that too." The blonde sighed then began playing footsy with himself out of boredom. Mizuki sighed then chuckled. He glanced at the boy again out of his peripheral vision.

"Then I guess I have to tell you," he stated. Naruto turned to look at him curiously. "It's a secret…but I'm going to let you in on it." Mizuki sensei now had the blonde's full attention and with that he divulged the secret.

* * *

"Are you sure about this?" Sasuke asked in a whisper as the two, under the cover of night, headed for the third hokage's office. They stopped behind another building to check their surroundings.

"Of course," Naruto confirmed. "Mizuki sensei told me all about it. If I can master a jutsu from this scroll then I can pass the graduation exams even though they're over." They continued on, avoiding security at all costs. They stopped again, almost upon their destination.

"I dunno," Sasuke protested. "If you ask me, I don't think that guy can be trusted, sensei or not. For all we know, this could be a set up to lure us or rather lure you into a trap only to get pummeled later by some assholes who don't like you." Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Look Sasuke, do you want me to pass or not?" Naruto asked accusingly. "Cuz the way I see it, we can trust Mizuki sensei and the scroll is going to help me do it. Now hurry up, we're losing precious time!" Sasuke sighed, following his adopted brother as they infiltrated the third hokage's home. It didn't take them long to find the scroll, however, before they could slip away, the elder spoke to them through the dark.

"Naruto, Sasuke…is that you?" he asked. They froze not giving an answer. A light switched on and the third saw they held the scroll in their hands. His face became stern as he gazed at them with his piercing elder's stare.

"And just what do you two think you're doing?" he demanded to know.

"Run!" Naruto shouted and the two made their way to the window to escape. However, the third was quicker and soon stood in front of their escape route. Sasuke glanced at Naruto who looked about the room desperately for another form of escape. Thinking quickly, he grabbed Naruto's shoulder and dragged him towards the front door, however, the hokage once again blocked their exit.

"I'm afraid you two and I are going to have to have a little chat," he declared. Sasuke just grinned. There was a poof of smoke and the third was looking at empty places, then back up again at the window where the real Naruto and Sasuke were trying to escape.

 _I see,_ he thought. _So Sasuke used the clone jutsu to make two clones but was able to make one look like Naruto. Clever boy, I'll give him that but not clever enough._ He charged forth just as the boys were almost out the window. The third grabbed a hold of Sasuke's shoulder and yanked him back from the window.

"Sasuke!" Naruto exclaimed. Sasuke threw a fast kick that the distracted hokage didn't see coming into his solar plexus just as he was about to grab Naruto. The third stopped short, having had his breath knocked out of him but still keeping a firm grip on the Uchiha boy's shoulder despite the boy's struggles against it. Naruto tried to go back to get his brother.

"Sasuke!" he exclaimed again. Before he could go and save his partner, Sasuke lashed out with a kick.

"Go now Naruto!" he shouted. "While he's down, now's your time to escape and get the job done while you can!" Naruto hesitated.

"But you'll…"

"Like I didn't know we'd get in trouble for this when I came here with you!" he growled. "Now go, and don't you dare fail again or I'll kick your ass myself!" After another two seconds, Naruto finally gave a curt nod and was gone before the third hokage could recover himself. A little while later, not too soon after Naruto had fled, two ANBU guards burst into the hokage's room to find the hokage leaning over and trying to breathe again while holding on tightly to the Uchiha's shoulder.

"Lord third, what happened here!" one asked, eyeing Sasuke suspiciously. They came forth, helping the hokage back up to his feet. He breathed in and out to get himself back to normal.

"Naruto and Sasuke just broke in stole the sacred scroll of sealing," the third wheezed. "I managed to get Sasuke but Naruto got away. Send word out to all the Jonin available now!"

"Yes sir!" replied the ANBU who'd been indicated. Then the third turned to the other.

"Help me get Mr. Uchiha here to my office and summon either Kisuke or Sarah, whoever's in the village."

"Sir!" saluted the second. He did as he was told then once the Hokage was comfortably in his office with Sasuke sitting in a chair and being watched by the second ANBU, he made his way out to carry out his second task. The minutes seemed to tick by endlessly. The third left the room at one point to address the Jonin who'd assembled at the entrance to the building. Sasuke left his chair at the same time to watch from the window, accompanied by his supervisor. As Sasuke stared out at the Jonin, something caught his eye and horrifying realization that he'd been right all along came flooding over him. He began to panic internally.

 _What do I do? I have to go and warn Naruto but I'm under guard duty!_ He gave the ANBU a side glance, trying to figure out how to get past the elite ninja. However, it didn't take long for the hokage to return after sending out the Jonin to search for Naruto and upon his arrival back, he shooed the guard away. Then he held the Uchiha boy in his hard gaze for a while then…

"Alright Sasuke," he started. "I'm not sure what you and Naruto were planning but I hope you realize the capital offence you've both committed here in stealing that scroll." The Uchiha scoffed whilst turning his head away stubbornly.

"I wouldn't call it stealing so much as I would call it borrowing," he huffed. The third cocked an eyebrow.

"Borrowing? What could you possibly need to borrow such a scroll for?" he wondered. The Uchiha grinned as he glanced the hokage again.

"That…I'm afraid is classified information," Sasuke replied smugly. The third hokage didn't seem too pleased with his attitude as he grumbled something incoherent afterwards. Meanwhile Sasuke was trying desperately to figure out how to get to Naruto. _What do I do, I'm running out of time! I sure could use one of Naruto's crazy schemes right about now._ Then it dawned on him after this thought, the most craziest and most embarrassing by his standards, idea ever. He groaned inwardly as he realized he'd have to pull off "that" jutsu. He turned back to the third, standing in the process.

"Anyways lord third, I must apologize, but I must take my leave now," he said somewhat smugly. The third tensed annoyed.

"Unfortunately you're not going anywhere until we've had a chat with either Sarah, Kisuke or both!" he stated. Sasuke grinned slightly.

"Wanna make a bet?" He then formed the hand signs for the transformation jutsu and in a puff of smoke, Sasuke was replaced with a naked girl with rather large bosoms, her arm holding them up to make them bulge better. She had long black hair that framed her face and a cute high voice, evident in her giggling. The female Sasuke brought her index finger up to her chin in a thinking posture and gave the third a lustful look.

"Won't you please let me go lord third hokage?" she pleaded. Meanwhile the third, who'd been caught completely by surprise and was in himself a slight pervert though he'd never admit it, fell victim to his own dirty mind and his nose erupted in a fountain of blood that was bigger than Iruka sensei's the other day. He became dizzy as he fell backwards into his chair. Sasuke transformed back, happy to be normal again and praying nobody else had noticed him pulling off Naruto's sexy jutsu.

However, Sasuke had no time to make sure as he took to the rooftops from the window of the Hokage's office and headed towards where he knew Naruto would be, praying that he wouldn't be too late.

* * *

"W…what?" Naruto asked shakily. He stood in a forest within the leaf village a little ways off from the populace. Iruka sensei had found him but was now standing with kunai sticking out of him from his attempt to save Naruto from the onslaught. Meanwhile, Mizuki sensei had done just as Sasuke had predicted. He'd set a trap for the young blonde not only to get rid of him but to steal the sacred scroll of sealing he'd borrowed so he could learn a jutsu and finally graduate.

Mizuki had arrived shortly after Iruka and Iruka had pushed Naruto out of the way of the kunai. Then the two jonin's had tried to tell him what to do with the scroll. Naruto was confused and more than anything had wished Sasuke was there to cover him. But he wasn't, Naruto was all alone with the two jonin and one of them had just told him the reason behind the hatred and scorn of the villagers. Mizuki now grinned at the young blonde maliciously as he tried to comprehend what he'd just said.

"That's right," Mizuki said. "The fox spirit that killed Iruka's parents and destroyed our village has taken over your body. You are the nine tailed fox, Naruto!"

"Stop it!" Iruka yelled. He wanted Mizuki to shut up more than anything, not because he hated the young blonde and didn't want him to have the information, no, it was because he didn't want Naruto to get hurt by it and run away. Iruka didn't hate Naruto like the rest of the village, in fact, he thought of Naruto as a little brother as he did with Sasuke as the two were always together. He didn't want this information leak to hurt that bond, more than anything, he wanted to protect Naruto. But pinned down the way he was with kunai sticking out of his legs and shoulders, he wasn't able to do anything effective as Mizuki's words travelled faster than him.

"They've all been sneaking around, hiding things from you your whole life," Mizuki continued tauntingly. Naruto just stood there taking the onslaught of the truth, shaking the entire time.

"Didn't you think it was strange how they treated you? Like dirt! Like they hated you for just being alive!" Naruto's eyes widened with horror and realization. He didn't want it to be true, it couldn't be true. But everything Mizuki had said was true because that was the only explanation that made sense.

"No!" Naruto shouted, clenching his fists and taking up a defensive pose though what he would defend against was unclear. "No, no, no, no, no!" he kept shouting over again, his chakra becoming visible and lashing out with the boy's rage. Iruka looked at his pupil, pain reflected in his own eyes as he watched him suffer helplessly.

"Naruto," he tried to reach out and reassure him but the blonde wasn't listening. Mizuki laughed.

"That's right, you will never be accepted in this village," Mizuki declared. "And Sarah, she wasn't there the night the fox attacked but nevertheless she adopted you out of pity and to keep a close eye on you, I mean, it only makes sense her being a cat sage and all and just think what will happen when Kisuke and Sasuke learn the truth. They'll turn away in disgust too because no monstrous demon deserves to live!" Naruto shook even harder as the new fear of losing his only family became clear. He became choked up as tears fell from his eyes. Iruka was now even angrier at Mizuki than before.

"Mizuki, shut up and leave Naruto alone!" he shouted. Mizuki gave him a mock smile.

"Oh why don't you stop trying to protect him Iruka? Even you hate his guts because he killed your parents!" Naruto shook harder and even though Iruka tried to go to his student's aid, he winced in pain as the wound where the kunai had made their mark flared up at his sudden movement. He held his leg and rubbed at the sore spot as he remembered his conversation with the third hokage earlier.

 _"_ _Iruka," the third's words echoed in his mind. "Naruto never had a mother or a father to care for him and despite being adopted by Sarah and Kisuke; he's still treated the same way. He's shut out of everything and doesn't know why. Most people won't even look at him and even Sasuke is in the dark on matter, trying to figure out the reason. If he ever does, I'm not sure what he'll do since Naruto is one of the only comforts he's found since the destruction of his clan and family. But still, how would you feel if everywhere you went, people turned their backs on you? That's why he gets into trouble; he wants people to notice him other than the family he's acquired because even he knows that when Sarah and Kisuke are with other people, he's barely mentioned. It may not show on the outside or when he's playing with Sasuke, but he's always thinking about his parents and wondering why they had to die and leave him all alone. In other words, he's still hurting inside."_

"Die Naruto!" Mizuki called out from his place in the trees, snapping Iruka out of the memory. Iruka looked up in absolute horror to see that Mizuki was preparing one of the large shuriken from his back to finish off Naruto. He threw it and Naruto began to try and get away, fear etched onto his face as the deadly shuriken got closer. It was then that Iruka reacted on instinct.

"Naruto, get down!" he shouted. Unsure of what else to do the blonde listened, covering the back of his head with his hands for some minor protection. He waited for the shuriken to find its mark, waited for his life to be over. However, it never happened as he heard a sickening sound of shuriken meeting flesh and felt the presence of another over his own body. He looked up and a shocked expression came over his face.

There was Iruka; spread out over him protectively having taken the shuriken's hit to his back. It stuck out of him now and he grit his teeth against the pain. Meanwhile, Mizuki was looking rather shocked.

"W-why?" Naruto stuttered out, still looking at his teacher with wide eyes. Iruka coughed some.

"Because we're the same," Iruka stated through the pain. "When I lost my parents, no one seemed to care. They didn't have time for me; they just forgot I was there. My grades dropped, I became the class clown. I just wanted them to see me and to know my name but my school work wasn't enough to get their attention so I did crazy things but then I had to pay for it. It was hard." suddenly something wet hit Naruto's cheek and Naruto registered that Iruka now had tears flowing from his eyes.

"I know that's how you feel Naruto. Even with those three, you still feel lonely and it hurts inside and I know…that I could've been there for you more. I let you down and I'm sorry. No one should have to suffer that much, no one should be alone like that." Naruto felt his own body shaking now as he listened to what his sensei had to say. Meanwhile, Mizuki had also been listening and had come out of the shock from when Iruka had jumped in the way of his shuriken. He started laughing at Iruka's words.

"Don't make me laugh!" he shouted. "Iruka always hated you. He was orphaned because the nine tailed fox killed his parents and now that beast is inside you! He'd say anything to get the scroll from you!" Naruto finally snapped. He couldn't take it anymore so he took off out from under Iruka and ran deeper through the forest trying to get away from the two sensei's who were confusing him so. Iruka reached out after him and called out his name.

"Naruto!" But the boy kept running. "Naruto!" he shouted louder but it had no effect. Meanwhile, Naruto just continued running and running. To where he didn't know but he knew it'd be better than there. The many thoughts came crashing through his head and he tried to sort them all out as he ran.

 _The nine tails…is inside me? How can this be happening? I…I didn't ask for it! Does this mean…dad put it inside of me, was Sarah lying when she said my parents loved me? I don't know what love means to most people but I'm pretty sure it doesn't mean putting a monster inside your own son!_ He was yelling all of it inside his head while tears slipped down his cheeks. He finally made it to another clearing where he realized how far he'd gone and how tired he was. He didn't know where to go so he just settled for slumping down and sitting behind a tree. He panted heavily trying to catch his breath. He was still thinking hard about what had just happened and what it meant that he almost didn't hear a familiar scoff nearby.

"So this is where you decided to hide from that jerk!" Sasuke said as he came up in front of Naruto. Naruto looked up and the fear he'd felt before when it was mentioned came rushing back, his heart rate picked up and he just stared at Sasuke in bewilderment unable to say anything.

 _Sasuke,_ he thought. _Does he already know? Will I be left all alone when he does? Everything's going to change now and…but would he really turn his back on me?_ Naruto continued staring and was shaking now. It caused Sasuke to cock a curious eyebrow.

"What's the matter with you?" he asked. "You look like you've seen a ghost. If you keep gawking like that, your face will freeze and you'll look even more stupid than you already do." This snapped Naruto out of it somewhat and he became enraged but not entirely at Sasuke.

"Shut-up!" he shouted. Sasuke was taken aback by his adopted brother's new attitude. Right away he could tell something had already happened. _But what could've made him this angry?_ He wondered. The answer came as he heard Naruto's name being called by Iruka. He edged over and watched as two figures came into view. Another Naruto was being chased by Iruka. Sasuke figured it must be a transformation technique.

"Naruto," they heard Iruka say. Sasuke gave Naruto a look, noticing him flinch. Sasuke went back to watching and listening as they got closer. "Everything Mizuki said was a lie. Give me the scroll, hurry! He's coming after you to take it away!" Sasuke watched as the fake Naruto came to rest on a tree branch then just as suddenly leapt up and head butted Iruka. Iruka let out a sound of pain as he was sent crashing to the ground of the clearing. He skidded to a halt and the fake Naruto came to a skidding halt of his own on his feet.

 _What's going on?_ Sasuke wondered. _What's with the fake Naruto and whoever that is over there, it certainly isn't Iruka sensei._ The fake Iruka, as Sasuke had figured out; then sat up on his side.

"It can't be," he said. The fake Naruto took the fake scroll off of his back and slumped down against his own tree breathing heavily. The fake Iruka meanwhile turned an angry scowl upon him. "How did you know Naruto…how did you know…" a puff of smoke enveloped the fake Iruka and revealed Mizuki sensei with the giant shuriken on his back. "…That it was me and not Iruka?' Mizuki finished his question.

The fake Naruto chuckled with a mad grin on his face. Another puff of smoke enveloped his body this time and cleared away to reveal an injured Iruka sensei, bleeding from his wounds. "Because I'm Iruka," he said simply through the pain. Sasuke's eyes widened and turned to his adopted brother.

"Okay, just what the hell happened to Iruka sensei?" he questioned with a whisper. Naruto flinched. Then he hesitantly spoke.

"He…saved my life." He said softly. Sasuke remained quiet as he looked back into the clearing. Mizuki meanwhile had himself a laugh.

"You're a fool. Why are you protecting that freak!?" he inquired. Sasuke's blood flared up, angry that his brother was yet again being verbally bullied by an immature grown-up. He gripped the tree and grit his teeth. However what he said next caught him by surprise.

"He's the one who wiped out your family!" Mizuki continued. Sasuke took a quick glance back at Naruto who had been curious enough to peek around the tree. However, with the words from Mizuki he flinched again.

"Wiped out his family…what does he mean by that?" Sasuke asked Naruto turned away from his brother. He remained silent.

"I don't care what you say, you're not getting your hands on that scroll," Iruka stated firmly from the clearing.

"Naruto, come on, what's going on here?" Sasuke pressed. Naruto hugged the scroll he was holding close to his chest and Sasuke was surprised to see that he was crying some.

"I finally understand," he said. Sasuke listened now curious. "I know why they all hate me, why everyone in the village wants me gone!" he gripped the scroll harder. "It's because…the nine tailed fox is inside of me!" Sasuke's eyes widened at the news.

"The…nine tails…is in you?" he asked flabbergasted. He just couldn't believe it. Naruto just chose a spot on the ground and began to glare at it as if he wanted it to catch fire. A laugh from Mizuki called their attention back to the clearing.

"As if you could stop me," Mizuki retorted against Iruka. "Don't you get it, Naruto is just like me."

"How's that," Iruka growled while maintaining his glare on Mizuki. Mizuki snorted.

"He wants the scroll for his own power and his own vengeance. That's how beasts are, in fact that's probably why Sasuke helped him get a hold of it because then the both of them could finally take out the ones who caused them so much grief!" Sasuke's eye twitched. He hated that he was being drawn into this too.

"They'll pour all of their rage into that scroll but Naruto won't be getting back at just one person no, he'll destroy the whole village, he'll destroy everything for his revenge. That's just how beasts are, wouldn't you agree?" Naruto flinched again and Sasuke decided he had heard enough. He stepped out from behind the tree and began walking.

"I beg to differ!" he growled. Mizuki and Iruka both looked up in surprise as the young Uchiha took the field. Naruto was meanwhile too shocked to move. He settled for listening intently.

"Oh well, speak of the devil," Mizuki chuckled. "I see someone's been eavesdropping on our little conversation."

"Sasuke," Iruka spoke in surprise. He wondered just how he'd gotten past lord third. Sasuke came to stand a bit beside his respectable teacher and turned to face Mizuki with rage dancing in his eyes.

"My, my you look angry," Mizuki commented mockingly. Sasuke just gritted his teeth.

"You have no right to say things like that about me or Naruto," he growled back. Mizuki just laughed.

"Do you think I care?" he sneered. "Anyways do you even know that the company you keep is a monster just waiting to rip your throat out? I bet no one told you that long ago the nine tails was sealed inside of your so called brother. Now he's the nine tailed fox and soon he's going to tear this village to shreds and you along with it." Sasuke remained quiet and glaring.

"You're right!" Iruka said suddenly from behind. Sasuke whipped his head around surprised and slightly peeved his teacher would say such a thing but it'd caught Mizuki's attention. Meanwhile, Naruto was quivering behind his tree and nearly choking the scroll to death.

"So it is true," he said frustrated. "Iruka sensei never did believe in me. He thinks I'm some beast…some kind of freak! And what about Sasuke. I bet he's going to think the same thing too now that Iruka said it. I…I'm really all alone, aren't I?" Naruto kept holding the scroll but suddenly a loud voice shouted out in anger.

"Iruka sensei!" came Sasuke's raised voice. "How can you say that?! How can you even call yourself a teacher?! Naruto's not…"

"Enough Sasuke, you didn't let me finish," Iruka stated catching the ranting pre-teen by surprise. Iruka then continued.

"Mizuki…you're right," he stated again. "That is how beasts are." Iruka then looked up and smirked at Mizuki. "But that's not who Naruto is." This took everyone including Mizuki by surprise.

"He's nothing like that," Iruka continued. "He's one of a kind, works hard; puts his whole heart into it. Sure he messes up sometimes and everyone jumps on him but his suffering only makes him stronger. That's what separates him from being a beast. So you're wrong, he's nothing like the nine tailed fox. He's Naruto Uzumaki of the village hidden in the leaves!" he finished then turned to Sasuke with a smile on his face. "And I'm certain that Sasuke feels the same way."

Sasuke smirked back at his sensei and gave a curt nod before turning back to Mizuki with the same smug look on his face.

"He's right, ya know," Sasuke stated. "Naruto isn't a beast and I sure as hell haven't seen him sprouting any tails so you're completely wrong about him. Nine tailed fox host or not, he's my brother and that's never going to change so why don't you stopping judging others when you know nothing about them?" Sasuke continued to give off his arrogant smirk which really began to irk Mizuki. Meanwhile, Naruto sat behind his tree, a waterfall coming from both of his eyes and his nose running with relief.

"Heh, you really believe that drivel," Mizuki sneered in annoyance. He glanced at Sasuke then back to Iruka. "Iruka, I was going to save you for later but I've changed my mind. I'll take you and this brat out right here and now!" Mizuki unlatched his second shuriken and began to rapidly spin it in his hand getting ready to throw. Iruka, realizing what was about to happen turned to Sasuke.

"Sasuke, get out of here, right now!" Sasuke scoffed and stepped in front of his sensei, the same grin on his face as before.

"What so you can get killed, yeah right!" he smirked.

"Sasuke, he's a jonin and you only just graduated, he'll flatten you!" Iruka pleaded.

"Better listen to your sensei if you don't want to die!" Mizuki shouted. He brought his arm back to throw but Sasuke quickly weaved a few hand signs and suddenly, after bringing one hand up to his mouth and taking a deep breath he called out, " **Fire Style; Fireball Jutsu!** "

A big fireball was unleashed and headed straight for Mizuki who was taken by surprise. However, he was able to leap out of the way just in time to dodge the giant ball of flame. After it'd dispersed he leapt back onto the ground from the tree he'd taken temporary refuge in.

"How…how the hell do you already know something like fireball jutsu?" he asked baffled. Sasuke smirked.

"Who knows, maybe I'm just that good. Oh and for future reference, watch who you're calling a brat okay?" Mizuki growled. He side stepped quickly, leaving Sasuke wondering where he was until he appeared again nearer to Iruka, Shuriken spinning again and ready to throw.

"Fine, I'll deal with the weakling first!" he bellowed. _Damn it, not enough time to move,_ Sasuke thought in horror. However, this time before Mizuki could succeed in killing Iruka, Naruto had leapt out from hiding and head butted him in the chin, throwing him backwards while Naruto himself came to a skidding halt in front of his sensei. He held the scroll, standing it up and glared darkly at Mizuki.

"Naruto!" Iruka exclaimed in surprise. Meanwhile, Mizuki was picking himself up off the ground. He spat out some blood on the ground then turned to face Naruto's glare.

"Heh, not bad for a punk," Mizuki jeered. Naruto paid no heed to his words.

"If you ever lay a hand on my brother or my sensei…" he began with a growl. "I'll kill you!" he shot out. Sasuke grinned now, knowing that somehow things would be alright. Mizuki laughed.

"Such big words," he taunted. "I can destroy you all in a single move!" Naruto continued glaring while he brought up his hands to form a hand sign, allowing the scroll to drop and roll to Iruka sensei's feet.

"Take your best shot fool. I'll give it back to you a thousand fold!" he declared. At this Mizuki decided he'd had it with the arrogance of the brats before him. He came forth at a run.

"Let's see ya try! Show me what you can do nine tailed fox!" he roared. As he got closer, Sasuke became worried.

"Naruto, run!" he shouted. Naruto paid him no heed. _Idiot,_ Sasuke thought. _What can you possibly do against him?_ His question was answered by a shout from Naruto.

" **Shadow Clone Jutsu!** " he called out. There was a thunderous roar of poofs as several hundred smoke clouds disappeared, leaving behind clones of Naruto. Iruka and Sasuke gaped.

"That many now?" he questioned. "But he could barely manage one before!" Iruka chuckled beside him.

"It's amazing isn't it?" he inquired of his other student. Sasuke turned befuddled. "And those aren't just illusions either, they're solid clones!" Sasuke's eyes widened as he turned back to see the hundreds of Naruto's surrounding the area of the forest. Meanwhile a panicked Mizuki was trying to make sense of his predicament as the Naruto's called out to him.

"Here I am!" said one.

"No I'm over here," called another.

"He's wrong we're over here," claimed another group. Sasuke rolled his eyes as he could clearly see his brother was having some fun before the attack. Mizuki finally tripped over his own feet and fell on his butt. One of the Naruto's grinned.

"If you're not coming," he said.

"Then we're going to come after you," finished another. And then all of the Naruto's converged and proceeded to pummel the villainous Mizuki until he could barely remain conscious. Once he was done, the Naruto clones disappeared until there was only one Naruto remaining with a wide grin on his face and him sheepishly scratching the back of his head.

"Sorry, I kind of got carried away," he chuckled.

"Kind of?" Sasuke questioned mockingly as he looked down at the now beaten Mizuki. "I'd say you just about nearly killed him. In fact he looks rather dead!" Iruka chuckled from where he sat.

"Humph, whatever!" the blonde retorted. "At least I beat him with my jutsu. Yours just burned a few trees!"

"Well excuse me," retorted Sasuke. "I can't control other ninja's movements!" he smacked his brother upside the head.

"Alright, alright, that's enough you two," Iruka said. He grinned. "You both did just fine. That clone jutsu was amazing Naruto, really advanced and I never knew you could perform fireball jutsu already Sasuke, that was quite the surprise." The two boys smiled lightly as did their sensei. Then Iruka shifted into a more comfortable position and turned Naruto's way.

"Naruto," he said. The blonde looked up. "Come here a minute. I have something I want to give you." Naruto stood where he was hesitating but finally with a push from Sasuke, literally, he walked forward towards his sensei. Meanwhile, the aforementioned Uchiha walked over too and leaned himself against the tree. Once Naruto was there, Iruka found the strength to stand and then told him to close his eyes.

"No peeking," Iruka clarified. Naruto closed his eyes. He felt cold air as he felt his goggles being removed but it was gone when he thought he felt them being put back. Soon Naruto became impatient. He began fidgeting.

"Sensei, how much longer," he whined.

"Stop being so impatient loser," Sasuke said nearby. Naruto grumbled. Finally Iruka had finished.

"Okay, you can open your eyes now." Once Naruto did, he could see the smiling faces of both Iruka sensei and Sasuke as well as the light of the morning sun rising in the east. Naruto was slightly confused but realization dawned on him as he saw Iruka sensei's forehead protector was gone and he was holding his goggles. His eyes widened with surprise.

"Congratulations," Iruka beamed. "You graduate!" Naruto remained where he was, a complete look of shock on his face that caused Sasuke to laugh.

"Heh, you look like a bigger idiot than usual. If you're not careful, your face really will freeze like that." This caused Naruto to come out of his stupor and start laughing too. He grinned wide. Iruka chuckled.

"And as an extra treat, I'll take us all out for ramen!" Iruka added. This got Naruto really excited, so much so that he jumped up and gave his sensei one of his signature Naruto hugs, knocking him back down again.

"Hey, that hurts!" Iruka laughed causing Naruto and Sasuke to join in. Sasuke looked at his brother and wondered if he'd ever seen Naruto this happy before but then just rolled his eyes as he was just glad that this meant they'd be genin together. Then a voice spoke up from behind.

"Heh, guess this means I won't be able to mommy caudle you two for much longer," said a female voice. The three turned to see that Sarah Uchiha was now making her way across the field. A few other ninjas were with her but to retrieve and arrest Mizuki as they went immediately over to his limp form, now unconscious.

"Sarah!" Naruto exclaimed.

"You're back," stated Sasuke. Sarah giggled her usual girlish giggle as she came to stand with them.

"Yes, I got back just earlier this morning. Lord third told me everything so I brought my team with me to aide you but I suppose I didn't need to since you handled it well yourselves." They all looked over at Sarah's teammates who were now lifting Mizuki to carry him. One turned to Sarah.

"So where to next?" the girl asked.

"First to the hospital since those injuries look rather serious then I assume to prison soon after. You can go on ahead of me. I'll clean up here." The two ninja's nodded and were gone with Mizuki in a flash. Sarah turned back to her two younger brothers and sighed.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, holding them both in her gaze. "I'm sorry I kept the truth from you, especially you Naruto, about the nine tails. You see, I wanted to wait to tell you when you became a ninja but it looks like Mizuki beat me to the punch. However, now that you do know, I assume you'll have many questions for me, questions that the third has allowed me to answer any way I see fit. But for now, why don't we head home and get you two to bed? You've been up all night."

"Yeah, sure," Sasuke agreed.

"Awn, what about ramen?" Naruto complained. Iruka chuckled.

"Heh, don't worry about that, I'll still treat you but you should probably go and get some rest first," Iruka smiled. Naruto gave his own smile back. Then he turned back to Sarah, a newly developed look developed on his features.

"So um, is it true that you only adopted me because you had to keep an eye on the nine tails?" he asked sheepishly. Sarah cocked an eyebrow.

"Now where would you get an idea like that?" she questioned.

"Mizuki said that was the only reason," Naruto replied. Sarah sighed as she knelt down and placed her hands on his shoulders.

"Naruto, the reasons I adopted you were of my own decisions. But if you really must know, I'll tell you the main reason." She paused slightly but a smile grew on her face.

"It's because, I too possess a scary and dangerous power that had me scorned and hated by the village." This caught both boys by surprise. "But more on that when you wake up next." she beamed.

And with that, after Sarah had used her medical nin-jutsu to heal Iruka's wounds, she took her younger brother's home where once there they didn't even bother getting undressed, they just plopped down on their beds and slept, Naruto on his with a pleased grin on his face and his new leaf headband reflecting the morning sunlight that came in through the window.


	3. The Truth

**_Chapter two_**

 ** _(The Truth)_**

 ** _Twelve years ago, when it was least expected, a giant beast known only as the nine tailed fox spirit appeared within the village of Konahagakure. No one knew how or why but it suddenly went on a rampage causing mass destruction and costing many lives. The many ninjas of the leaf rose up to defend their beloved home from the terrible beast many not returning afterwards._**

 ** _But just when all hope seemed lost, a figure appeared upon one of the heads of the great hokage monument calling the beast's attention to him. The beast immediately wished to destroy him but even as it let loose its massive attack that could flatten the entire village, the great figure stepped forward and used his special jutsu to transport the massive ball of dense chakra far away from the village and then the next time, he was able to transport the fox spirit with him outside of the village._**

 ** _From the points of views of the villagers and ninjas who bore witness, they did not know where the beast had been taken nor did they expect too much later find the dead forms of the figure along with his wife in a faraway clearing._**

 ** _The names of these two unsung heroes were Minato Namikaze the fourth hokage and his wife Kushina Uzumaki. However, their sacrifice became greatly known throughout the village and upon finding the bodies, the ninjas had also found the form of a newborn baby boy with soft blonde hair like his father's and the signature three whisker birthmarks acquired from being born of the previous nine tails jinchuriki._**

 ** _After having retrieved the bodies and naming the two as heroes, the villagers tried to go back to their ordinary lives although for some "ordinary", would never come. The baby boy of the two heroes had been named Naruto and was under the care of the village elders and the reinstated third hokage however, though life went on, the truth behind the nine tail's attack was never discovered._**

 ** _Jinchuriki is the name given to those who possess a tailed beast within their being. Kushina Uzumaki, the female hero and wife to the fourth hokage Minato Namikaze, had been the previous nine tails jinchuriki. She possessed a unique chakra only known to her clan and she was an exceptional kunoich. However, the seal that held the nine tails within her was known to weaken during the nine months of pregnancy up until child birth. With the seal weakened it would be opportune for the nine tails to try and escape. So it was decided that for the safety of the villagers, she would give birth to her child in a secure location outside of the village with the help of her husband and the some village elders._**

 ** _However, upon the night the child was to be born, a dark man with dark intent and wearing a mask took advantage of the situation and once the child had been born and the seal was at its weakest, he distracted the hokage by threatening their child's life and then proceeded to rip the demon spirit from the jinchuriki's body. After taking their newborn son to a safer location, Minato the fourth hokage returned to rescue his wife and take her there as well._**

 ** _Meanwhile, the masked man had taken control of the nine tail's mind and sent it on a rampage to attack the village. Minato returned to defend his home from the man and the two engaged in an intense battle through which he learned something vital. The man possessed the sharingan._**

"The sharingan?! But that means he must've been an Uchiha!" Sasuke suddenly shouted, interrupting his sister's story. Naruto too was wide eyed.

"Isn't that the Uchiha clan's special jutsu?" he queried. "How'd he get a hold of that?" Sarah sighed slightly annoyed at the interruption and thought of a way to explain.

"I'm not sure whether the man was an Uchiha or if he'd just stolen the jutsu and had implanted it within himself but I do know that he was strong enough to control the nine tails and Minato had a lot of problems dealing with him." she said.

"But who…" Sasuke started again but Sarah raised a hand to silence him.

"Might I finish the story first before any more questions?" she asked of them. The Uchiha shut his mouth and waited for her to continue and she eyed Naruto to make sure he too got the message. He nodded and she picked up where she left off.

 ** _The masked man possessed the Uchiha's unique kekei genkai trait, the sharingan, a very powerful jutsu and it could do more than just see and copy other ninja's techniques. This man could use his unique abilities to control the nine tails and when attacked by other physical attacks, he could phase through them by making his body like that of a spirit's. It took a while but Minato was finally able to land a direct hit using his wit and his own unique jutsu._**

 ** _The man claimed that he'd be back and in time he'd destroy the leaf before disappearing without a trace. Meanwhile, the nine tails still rampaged but was later stopped by the fourth hokage. Kushina tried with all of her might to re-seal the fox spirit within her own body but she was on the edge of her life. Minato then made the hardest decision he'd ever made in his life and decided to entrust the suppressing of the nine tail's power to his only son whom he believed would be stronger than him and light the way for a better future for all shinobi kind._**

 ** _First he performed the reappear death seal, a technique that took one's own life whilst sealing another. Minato then sealed half of the nine tails within his own body and then prepared to do the same to his child. The nine tails sought to stop him and attempted to slay the child where he slept. However, both Minato and Kushina together stopped the blow from nine tails by jumping in the way of its paws and were both impaled upon one claw. Before they died, they left their son with their goodbyes and their love as the nine tails was sealed inside him and soon after, they departed from this world, the fourth hokage taking half of the nine tails with him._**

"And that's how the story goes," Sarah finished finally leaning back into the sofa and crossing her arms over her chest. The boys remained awe struck by the story and Kisuke meanwhile just let out a long whistle while holding a cup of coffee, admiring his wife's story telling feats.

"And so you see Naruto, the nine tails wasn't sealed inside of you because it was convenient, it was because your father and mother believed that one day you'd be able to tame and control it." Sarah watched the boy's reactions. Naruto was the first to shake himself from his stupor and once he had, he began grinning like no tomorrow. His happiness at the news of his parent's undying love had made him giddy.

"Wow, so they really think I can become that strong?" he asked again, a goofy tone to his voice trying to hear more good news. Sarah chortled.

"Didn't I just say that ya goofball? Anyway yes, they thought, no they knew that someday you'd surpass them both and become an exceptional shinobi."

"But how do you know all of this when you weren't even here?" queried Sasuke. "I mean you were off training and even so, that same night, you said that Kushina erected a barrier so no one could interrupt them." Sarah now held her blood brother in her gaze.

"Well the reason for that is simple. Right before he died, Minato had summoned one of the toads from Mt. Myoboku to send me a message relaying everything that'd happened through sharing his memories with him and then the toad shared those same memories with me. Minato had promised to keep me informed with everything that was going on in the village as much as mother and father would and that's why he did that. He and Kushina had also promised me that they would let me know when Naruto was born then send me some pictures much like mother and father had done with you while I was away all those years."

"I see," Sasuke said, accepting her answer. Then he leaned forward again. "But I still wonder about that guy with the sharingan you mentioned earlier. If he were an Uchiha then why would he do something like that?" He held his chin between his index finger and thumb with an intent thinking expression upon his face. Kisuke then leaned forward, setting his coffee down on the coffee table.

"Well Sasuke, it's like Sarah said, he might not have been an Uchiha," he stated. Sasuke nodded. "But regardless…Uchiha is only a name and nothing else that's unique to your family. Just because someone is called Uchiha does not make them either honorable or dishonorable. Those feats and characteristics depend souly on the character himself and if said character chooses to walk the wrong path, regardless of his name, he is a person on the wrong path." Sasuke became cross and started glaring at Kisuke.

"Yeah well you don't know the Uchiha," he pointed out. Sarah sighed and looked towards the ceiling.

"Yes but neither do you Sasuke, not really," she said. Sasuke flared up.

"And what don't I know about it!" he snapped.

"Many, many things," Sarah declared. "It's like what Kisuke said. You can't judge someone souly by appearances or souly by a name. Despite what you think now, back then you were only eight years old, both young and innocent so anything major would've been kept from you. For example, my own identity as your elder sister at the request of the elders of Mt. Nekozawa."

"But that was because you said your identity had to be kept secret because of the sacred oath of the cats. The two situations are totally different." Sarah brought her head back down to Sasuke's eye level with a serious look on her face.

"Well not precisely. You see…believe it or not our clan has a history of betrayal and has had struggles against government authority. While our clan was very powerful, back in those days when shinobi villages didn't exist, our clan was always hired to fight against very powerful adversaries hired by other nations, almost always adversaries of the same opposing clan. It wasn't until much later when one of those adversaries decided to put an end to it all and eventually founded this very village. The leader of that clan was Hashirama Senju and he was the leaf's very first hokage."

"Wow, he sounds amazing. Was his clan really that strong?" Naruto asked in admiration. Sasuke just scoffed crossing his arms over one another and turning away slightly peeved.

"Who cares, they couldn't have been that strong!" he pouted.

"Actually, quite the contrary," Sarah continued. "The Senju clan was pretty much the only clan that could openly oppose the Uchiha and eventually Hashirama became the head of his clan and the head of the Uchiha at that time was someone name Madara Uchiha. As boys the two were rumored to be friends despite their clan's rivalry but nevertheless, somehow, Madara grew to hate Hashirama and the Senju more and more each day. However, after having lost one battle, Madara's clan wished to accept the peace offering from the Senju to end the ceaseless fighting and Madara had no choice but to agree.

"Technically Madara helped Hashirama erect and found this village but eventually Madara's hatred grew to overwhelm him and he sought to destroy it when the two couldn't agree on how to achieve an era of peace. Eventually he tried to do so by using the power of the nine tailed fox back when it had no host but unfortunately his plans were soiled and after a long heated battle with Hashirama a bit of ways from the village, he lay utterly defeated on the ground. Everyone believes that he died right then and there but since the cats of Mt. Nekozawa know the life lines of every Uchiha they know he didn't die until much later. Nevertheless he's still dead."

Sasuke had come out of his pouting to listen intently just as Naruto was listening intently from the get go. He'd been interested in the story and now held onto his knees as he sat with his feet up on the couch. Sasuke was still trying to wrap his head around it.

"Okay, but wouldn't Hashirama being hokage have ticked him off, he would've thought the Uchiha were merely underneath the Senju's control. Wasn't he just doing what he thought was right?" Sarah nodded gravely.

"Yes but that still didn't give him an excuse for what he did. Even his own clan didn't wish to follow in his footsteps which was why he left the village to find a way to seize control. He believed that true peace couldn't be obtained unless everyone followed his way of thinking, if they were slaves to it so they couldn't have free will or rebel. True there would be no more fights but at what price? Everyone would lose their humanity and become little more than puppets. And while it's true the Uchiha didn't side with Madara's beliefs back then, as time went on, they found themselves beginning to think like him. I believe that even father began thinking like that too."

"No way!" Sasuke shouted, now on his feet. "Father wasn't like that he was the head of police! He said himself that there was no greater honor!" Everyone's eyes were now on the youngest Uchiha.

"Woah, hey calm down Sasuke," Naruto tried to reason. Sasuke turned on him.

"Shut-up, it's none of your business!" Sasuke countered.

"Calm down Sasuke," Sarah stated in a serious tone. The young Uchiha was shaking with rage as he glared angrily at his sister. She let out an exasperated sigh as she flopped backwards on the couch.

"Look, I'm not saying father was the bad guy, he could've just been influenced by the others. But even I know how the Uchiha could be. After all, I saw a side of them that neither you nor even Itatchi could see." Her words hung in the air as silence followed. Sasuke finally sat back down on the couch and scoffed at them.

"Yeah and what side did you see?" he asked. Sarah took a while to answer.

"Do you remember when I said that I too held a power like Naruto's that frightened the village enough to earn their scorn and hatred?" Both boys nodded. Sarah sat back up again and held them both in a serious gaze. Then it softened.

"Well that was the truth," she stated. "And it was this power that eventually led to my leaving the village in the first place. You see, out of all of the Uchiha, I was born prematurely and with a unique and special fire chakra nature that was in a way…unstable and very, very dangerous. I was unable to control it when I was young and it was so powerful that it awoke when I was merely a baby. With this chakra nature, I wound up setting fires almost everywhere and not just ordinary ones either. In fact I nearly burnt down the estate and the entire village more times than one could count and…I ended up hurting those around me by accident, especially mother because no one but her and father wanted to hold me." The boys now gave her their full attention as they listened. Sarah turned a soft gaze upon Naruto.

"You see that's one of the reasons I adopted you Naruto," she explained. "Back then as my power was unstable from birth and was quickly growing, everyone in the village, even those within my own clan began to fear and resent me. When I was a toddler I had already scared the villagers enough to earn those looks of scorn, distrust and hatred. Whenever I would walk the streets, I would hear them whispering about me behind my back and saying that I was a demon, a monster that shouldn't be allowed to live. When I went to mother and father with the same question every time, "Why?" they didn't have an answer. Mother more oft than naught just broke down into tears and held me in her arms while father would try and avoid the subject while growing more and more resentful of the villagers because of how they treated me.

"But it wasn't just the villagers, there were many members of our own clan too who wished I would just leave or drop dead. And those who began following Madara's way of thinking…I overheard them speaking of using me as a weapon; a means to an end. And so, I was much like you growing up Naruto." She now held him in her gaze which was somewhat distant as she remembered her past. Then she gazed up at the ceiling again.

"Things got worse when I unlocked my sharingan. Since every one's sharingan is different based on the person, it held greater risk since my sharingan was new and completely uncontrollable as well as an amplifier to my chakra. That's when the cat elders came down from Mr. Nekozawa to choose their next cat sage candidate as was custom for the Uchiha clan. They came to mother and father and said they wished to see my power. I nearly burnt down our home again but nevertheless, they still chose me. They said they could train me in a way the leaf village never could in order to control my powers and that I possessed an ancient sharingan that had to be nurtured a certain way.

"I was a genin when this happened, Itatchi was only half way through the academy and you had only just been born. I had also made friends with Kushina and Minato as Kushina understood my pain and she had helped me thus far to control my power. I wasn't sure if I wanted to go. However, I eventually decided to do so in order to better protect my home and my loved and cherished ones from my own destructive force. The cat elders then said that it would be best if my departure was kept a secret as many Uchiha would try and take my role from me as it was considered a great honor anyone would wish to have to become the next cat sage. They might also try to keep me as a weapon too and it was customary that all cat sages trained in the utmost secrecy.

"So I left knowing that you wouldn't come to know me until after I returned home and that only Kushina, Minato, mother, father, Aunt Uruchi, Uncle Teyaki, lord third and Itatchi would know where I had gone. And so as you know I spent a great deal of time training to be the next Uchiha cat sage and after hearing of the massacre, I cut that training short and returned home in better control of my power though still slightly unstable and I took you two in. I had also been married to a wonderful man." Kisuke smiled warmly at her at this and she turned back to the boys.

"Okay, I get it," Sasuke said with a huff. "Not every Uchiha is good. But I'm not one of the bad ones that's for sure." Sarah smiled. There was silence for a while then…

"But why…" Sasuke spoke in a shaking tone. "Why would Itatchi choose to be one of the bad ones? Why would he do that to his own clan, his own family? He told me that night that it was to test his skills but how can I just accept that?!" Naruto watched his adopted brother as his body shook with emotion but didn't say anything as he already knew that bringing up his past was painful. Sarah seemed to be staring off into space for a while then she spoke.

"Well, if there's one thing I know for sure…" She started. "It's that Itatchi was never one for violence. He was a kind and gentle soul who saw the world in a different light and couldn't bear to watch others fight and in truth in the beginning he didn't wish to become a shinobi and his gifts allowed him not to be weighed down by the clan. However, I also know that he doesn't do things without a really good reason and that if the reason he gave you was as simple and straightforward as that then he was probably only putting on a show. He's a master spy which makes him a master liar. I don't know what drove him to do it but if you're truly unhappy with his answer, I suppose you'll have to find him and get the truth from him yourself." And she left it hanging there.

Sasuke finally stood calmly and decided to leave. He began exiting the room.

"Hey, where are you going?" Naruto asked. Sasuke paused in the doorway of the living room. He glanced over his shoulder, a softer look than before on his features.

"I'm going to go practice with shuriken in the back yard," he stated. "Wanna come?" Naruto took a moment to respond but he did so by jumping off of the couch and following the Uchiha to the back door. Sarah and Kisuke did the same. Once by the back door of the kitchen, Sarah leaned against the island counter and watched as the boys got their shuriken and kunai pouches and sandals on.

"You know…I probably haven't told you everything," she said. The boys kept getting ready. "But I feel if I give you too much information at this point in time then you'll only be concerned with dwelling in the past and that can be dangerous. Just know there's more I need to tell you but only when you're ready and I promise I will not lie." The boys stood up, Naruto adjusting his green goggles on his head as usual. He glanced back with a grin on his face.

"Don't worry Sarah if that's the case then I'll just wait until then. Then I'll listen to every word good or bad." Sarah nodded then glanced over at her blood brother.

"I don't want to know any more," stated the raven haired boy tiredly. "If you do, it'll only make my head explode. But don't worry…I'll be mindful of your advice." With that, Sarah gave a smile.

"Well…I suppose that's all I can ask of you." She paused a moment in thought then thought of something. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot. I have a little something for the two of you," she stated. Sasuke and Naruto glanced her way, curious looks on their faces as Sarah brought up her hand into a fist breathing on it as if to clean off something then rubbing it on her shirt. Then before the boys could react, her fist came down upon both their heads with a mighty whack.

"Agh!" the two yelled out in unison, their hands flying to the new sore spots. Sarah brought her fist back and blew on it as if getting rid of dust obtained from contact. Naruto turned on her with an angry fire in his eyes.

"What the heck was that for?!" he demanded.

"Why'd you hit us?!" Sasuke complained. Sarah just scoffed.

"Heh, it's what you get for vandalizing the monument the other day. You didn't think you'd get away with it without my knowing didjya!" A devilish grin had formed on the older Uchiha's lips. The boys shrunk in shame and fear from their sister as the memory was brought up, realizing that this was only the beginning of their punishment.

"Since you two were ballsy enough to pull a stunt like that, I suppose you'll be ballsy enough to clean a few training fields until you go back to the academy to be sorted as ninja. It's already been arranged with lord third so don't think you'll be getting out of it." The boys nodded quickly.

"Yes ma'am!" they shouted in agreement. They knew better than to go against what she'd said or to complain. Whenever they pulled pranks, she usually brought out heavy punishments but this recent one seemed less threatening than the last few. They quickly finished getting ready and headed outside.

Sarah sighed and sat down on an island stool and watched the two begin to practice with the shuriken and kunai. She smiled as she watched Naruto hit every target almost dead on. When she'd adopted him, he hadn't been able to hit the target whatsoever but since Sasuke started hanging with him more, he'd taken it upon himself to help Naruto practice. Since then, the boy's grades in school had somewhat risen higher than where they'd been.

Kisuke came up behind her and began to massage her sore shoulders. She placed her head down on the counter and let him take away her stress from the day with his gentle yet firm carpenter's hands. He chuckled some as he watched the two practice outside.

"Well…that certainly went better than you thought it would," he stated calmly. Sarah nodded and kept watching them from her position.

"Sometimes I have to wonder if I'm out my mind to try and raise them," she admitted softly. "Yet…I don't regret taking them in. But I wish I knew how to do this better and to give them the life they deserve. I mean…I'm not their mother."

"And that's fine," Kisuke reassured her. "They may cause trouble every now and then but at least they're happier that way. It's a lot better than where they were. I have no doubt in my mind that those two are going to help shape the shinobi world for the better. Just give it time and you'll see. Now that they're ninja…they'll be making their own paths to follow and the only thing we can do is help them; guide them towards whatever dreams they may have. They'll be just fine." Sarah nodded, feeling there was some truth to her husband's words but she still couldn't shake the feeling that soon something that she couldn't control would start. However for now, she just allowed herself to be relieved as her husband continued to massage her shoulders.

Meanwhile outside, Naruto and Sasuke threw their shuriken and kunai at the wooden posts that Kisuke had made for them a while ago for practice. They were littered with holes and chipped away wood as a sign from the past practices they'd had. They continued practicing in silence for a while, the only sounds being the clunk of shuriken and kunai hitting wood.

"Naruto," Sasuke began, breaking the silence. Naruto, finishing with the throw of another kunai, turned to face his brother.

"Yeah, what is it Sasuke?" he queried.

"What do you think about it?" he inquired of the blonde. Naruto raised a questioning eyebrow. "I mean about everything that Sarah just told us."

"What, about your clan and all?" he questioned. Sasuke gave a curt nod. Naruto turned back to face his post. "I…don't really know, I mean…it's a lot to take in all at once." Sasuke nodded, understanding. "But I'm kind of glad ya know," Naruto Continued. Sasuke seemed shocked but Naruto quickly explained. "Not that they're dead or anything it's just that…before Sarah and Kisuke came back and before we become brothers…I was…all alone and well…with you guys…I don't feel so alone anymore. It's a nice feeling ya know?" Sasuke smiled and turned back to his own post.

"Yeah, I get what you're saying," he stated. "I'm kind of glad things are this way too. Even though my own parents and clan were taken away…it feels great to at least have this much peace of mind and I have to admit..." he said as he threw another kunai at the log. "It's not so bad having a brother like you…heh even if you are a loser." Naruto suddenly developed a mischievous grin across his face.

"Oh, a loser am I?" he chuckled. "We'll just see about that!" Sasuke grinned back.

"First one to make a nearly perfect outline of the leaf symbol with either shuriken or kunai wins!" he stated. Naruto laughed out loud.

"Hah, bring it on!" And with that the two began trying to form village leaf symbols on their logs with as many kunai and shuriken as possible allowing the previous conversation with their elder sister to slip away for the time being.

* * *

"Listen kid," spoke the photographer. "You sure you want me to take your picture like that?" The blonde haired kid sitting across from him just got excited and began waving his arms in the air.

"Just do it!" exclaimed the kid. "Come on already, c'mon, c'mon!" The photographer sighed as he realized the kid wouldn't be swayed so he just stuck his head under the black cloth at the other end of the camera.

"Don't blame me later," he muttered then in a sarcastic tone, "Say cheese!" And with that, Naruto Uzumaki posed for his ninja picture and it was taken. A while later, Naruto sat in the Hokage's office as he looked over the photo, a questioning eyebrow raise accompanying his features.

In Naruto's photo his skin was painted pale white with face paint and he had many red markings not only on his face but on his hands as well. Meanwhile he still wore his orange jumpsuit and his blonde hair sticking out everywhere from pale skin stuck out even more like a sore thumb. As the hokage looked it over, Naruto was laughing lightly, obviously proud of his work on the other end of the room.

"At first ya know, I didn't exactly know how to do it," he explained his photo. "It took me like three hours to work it out and stuff and Sasuke was no help but finally…I got it…like an art project on my face only cooler." He continued chuckling to himself as the hokage continued staring at it.

"Take it again," he said plaintively catching Naruto by Surprise.

"Huh no way!" he shouted. The hokage meanwhile tried to maintain a calm and steady face.

"We can't accept this photo," he continued just as emotionless. Naruto however was bent on being really stubborn while meanwhile out in the hall, Sasuke who was waiting for Naruto so they could go and clean one of the waiting training fields, just sighed. _I told him they weren't going to take it like that,_ he thought to himself as he leaned against the wall and crossed his arms.

"Yeah, well I'm not doing it again!" Naruto stubbornly retorted. The hokage sighed knowing that he wasn't going to get him to cooperate that easily. The third and Naruto then entered a slightly momentary glaring contest until Naruto became frustrated then formed a hand sign for a transformation.

"Transform!" he yelled. There was a poofing sound accompanied by raised dust in the room and smoke and then suddenly standing in the middle of this smoke was a naked young blonde woman with huge breasts. Most of her more private areas were shrouded in smoke but it still had the desired effect as she said,

"Pretty please lord hokage?" she pleaded. After a momentary pause from the third, he fell backwards as a fountain of blood erupted from his nose and propelled him backwards until he landed on his side still in a stupor.

 _That…that jutsu…_ he stammered in his thoughts. _So that's where Sasuke learned it from and what's more…I fell for it again._ Once again on the outside of the room Sasuke groaned and brought a hand up and pinched the bridge of his nose in slight annoyance.

 _Stupid loser,_ he mentally berated of his brother. Suddenly though, Sasuke sensed a presence near him and while the third hokage was picking himself up off the ground, a little boy who wasn't even paying attention to the raven haired preteen was standing by the slightly cracked open door with a shuriken in one hand. Sasuke looked at him with surprise. _Who is this kid?_ He wondered.

Meanwhile, back in the room, the third hokage had made his way back to his seat and was wiping his nose with a tissue. He was sweating profusely from his recent embarrassment.

"That's the sexy jutsu, is that right?" he queried of Naruto. "Very tricky, much too tricky, don't do it again." Naruto meanwhile chuckled lightly whilst scratching the back of his head. "And where is your headband Naruto? You're supposed to be wearing it!" Naruto then reached up and adjusted his green goggles upon his head.

"Oh I'm not putting it on till the orientation, I don't wanna mess it up and Sasuke's doing the same," explained the blonde. The third sighed heavily once more then held Naruto within a firm gaze.

"So you want your headband nice," he started. "But your photo which is supposed to identify you makes you look like a clown! It's for ninja training and missions which is the key to your future." He held up the papers with Naruto's identity photograph upon it. "Look at this photo, you can't even tell who it is," he stated plainly.

"Well fine!" Naruto finally agreed. "How am I supposed to know all this complicated stuff anyway," he complained. Sasuke meanwhile outside was vaguely listening to the conversation as he watched the little boy beside him who still hadn't acknowledged his presence. Suddenly he brought up the shuriken in his hand and it caught the light of the sun, ultimately catching the attention of the occupants in the room.

Sasuke then watched with slight amusement and surprise as the kid swung open the sliding door with a loud bang and shouted inside.

"Old man!" he yelled, running inside towards the third. "I challenge you! I'm going to defeat you and become the fifth hokage!" he declared boldly. Sasuke had stepped into the doorway to watch as Naruto watched from where he was sitting and the third hokage watched as well. Yes they all watched…as the kid then suddenly tripped over practically nothing, though surprisingly not his ridiculously long scarf, and hit the floor hard face first. Both Naruto and Sasuke deadpanned wondering just what the hell was going on with this kid.

Meanwhile, the kid curled up on the floor holding his face and began to whimper in pain. The hokage just sighed heavily and pulled his hokage's hat further down over his eyes as he glanced the boy.

 _My grandson,_ he thought to himself. _Another headache!_ Suddenly another man came running to stand within the doorframe of the room. Sasuke had already entered and was leaning against the wall his hands shoved in his pockets. He glanced up innocently curious at the new comer. He was breathing heavily. Meanwhile the child stood up and now Naruto and Sasuke could get a better view of him.

He was scrawny, a preschooler no doubt, with wild, short spiky brown hair that stuck out of the back of a grey helmet on his head with a few stickers on it. He wore gray shorts with patches in the knee and a bright yellow shirt that had a red leaf village symbol on the front. Around his neck was draped a rather long blue scarf and on his feet, average blue sandals. Finally he had black eyes and a small chip in one of his teeth. Now as he got up, he groaned heavily and grumbled.

"Doh, something tripped me!" he complained blaming something else for his problems yet again. He began looking around the room as the newcomer spoke up.

"Are you okay, honorable grandson?" he asked worriedly. "And by the way, there's nothing here for you to trip on. It's pretty flat!" he commented. He adjusted his sunglasses on his face and Sasuke wondered to himself why he would wear them indoors. He wore the usual jonin outfit minus the flak jacket and had short dark brown hair. All in all to the boys he just seemed like a weirdo upon first sight.

Naruto just remained fixated on the boy in front of him getting off the floor. _Who is this shrimp,_ he wondered to himself. The boy slowly turned around and noticed Naruto sitting in a chair across from the hokage and the Jonin in the doorway followed his gaze. Suddenly his eyes fell upon Naruto as well.

 _It's that kid!_ He realized. Then an almost evil smirk seemed to crawl across his features. _Humph, the nine tailed fox. Of course, he's the worst kind of troublemaker._ He watched as the honorable grandson approached the blonde with the whisker birthmarks on either cheek and pointed an accusatory finger at him

"Alright," he said. "You're the one who tripped me aren't you!?" he demanded. Naruto immediately became enraged and his eye twitched. He stood up almost instantly, grabbing the kid by his scarf and shirt collar, nearly hauling him up off the ground.

"You tripped over your own feet dork!" Naruto yelled. The Jonin suddenly yelled at Naruto.

"Hey you, take your hands off of him now! He's the honorable grandson of the honorable third hokage!" Naruto looked up from the kid to hold the jonin in his gaze. Meanwhile Sasuke came forward with a scoff.

"Honorable? This little runt?" he taunted. "He stormed in here acting all tough only to flat out kiss the floor with his entire face!" The jonin turned, suddenly realizing that Sasuke was there as he nonchalantly took a stance near Naruto.

 _It's the Uchiha prodigy and younger brother to the legendary cat sage, Sarah Uchiha.,_ he thought in wonderment.

"Heh, no kidding," Naruto chuckled dryly. The kid in his grip squirmed and squirmed. He turned to glare at Sasuke.

"Oh yeah and who asked you?" he retorted. "No one that's who and you know what, now that I think of it, it was probably you who tripped me. This guy's a loser!"

"Loser," Naruto roared. He pulled the kid closer to his face. "Listen here brat, there's only one person I'll tolerate calling me a loser and that's Sasuke you got it!? Otherwise you'd better watch out before you cross a line you wish you hadn't!" The Jonin was getting more anxious with every second.

"Now listen here you two, this is the honorable grandson of lord third hokage and beating on him with such a show of disrespect in front of his grandfather is not the wisest action you could take!" Sasuke turned to the jonin an amused eyebrow raised. Naruto was paying attention to him too.

 _Heh, that stopped em,_ thought the kid. _Just like all the rest. Hah! Now that they know who I am, they won't dare lay a finger on me._ The kid turned to Naruto an evil grin on his face.

"Hah, what's the matter huh?" he taunted. "I thought you two were tough guys! Who's acting out of line now huh? Come on; are you two turning chicken because my grandfather's the third hokage? Well ya cowards?" He grinned thinking he'd won but the boy had only managed to touch both Naruto's and Sasuke's nerves. The third hokage just sat behind his desk knowing this wasn't going to end well.

"Naruto…" Sasuke started but Naruto was already one step ahead of his brother.

"We don't care if he's your grandmother! So believe it ya runt!" And with those words, Naruto's already readied fist was brought down upon the young boy's head hard. The boy felt it and began falling towards the floor slightly dizzy. _These guys are different!_ He thought as he hit the floorboards.

Meanwhile the jonin who was obviously the boy's mentor was freaking out, not believing what he'd just seen. The demon child with his partner in crime had stomped on the pride of the honorable grandson with their words and their fists. The Jonin master stood there twitching with shock as the hokage just stared upon the scene as though it were a boring everyday occurrence.

Not too soon after, Naruto and Sasuke had departed and were heading towards their first cleanup task on one of the shinobi training fields. As they walked towards it, Naruto had his hands behind his head in a stretching sort of pose as he walked, grumbling about the kid he'd pounded to the ground with one fist.

"Stupid brat," he grumbled. "Who's he to call me a loser?" Sasuke smirked beside him.

"Well it doesn't exactly help your case that it's true. You are a loser Naruto," he shrugged. Naruto then wheeled around on him.

"Hey knock it off with the "loser" already! It's starting to get annoying!" he growled back. Sasuke just laughed lightly.

"Oh come on Naruto, didn't you just finish telling that kid you didn't mind me calling you a loser? You said I was the only one you'd let do so." Naruto brought up a threatening looking fist.

"I said that you were the only one I'd tolerate!" he protested. "Besides, when you do it, you don't mean it the way the others do." He crossed his arms over his chest and looked away. Sasuke smirked and kept walking alongside his brother down the street. About halfway to their destination however, they felt someone's presence behind them. After a while they turned around to find an odd lump protruding from the ground with two sandaled feet sticking out at the bottoms. The two deadpanned.

"So…what do you think he wants to prove?" questioned Sasuke with a whisper that only Naruto could hear. Naruto just remained impassively unimpressed.

"I don't know but whatever it is, I get the feeling it'll be real annoying," he replied.

"Ignorance?" Sasuke queried.

"Ignorance," Naruto confirmed. They then turned back around as if they hadn't seen anything and continued on their way. However, the little kid from before was persistent and continued following them from afar or rather, almost up close. Finally Naruto decided he'd had enough and turned with a scowl on his face whilst pointing a finger.

"We know that you're following us so just give it up okay!" Naruto declared. Sasuke nudged him.

"What happened to ignorance?" he hissed. Naruto ignored him as he once again deadpanned seeing a sheet being held up, painted like a fence and showing not just feet but some familiar brown hair that stuck up and two hands holding the top of the sheet. Naruto's eye twitched.

"That's so obvious, it's pathetic," he stated. A small chuckle emanated from behind the sheet. Suddenly the sheet was lowered as the kid from the hokage's office appeared again and he grinned showing his chipped tooth.

"Saw through my disguise huh?" he stated. "The rumors about you are true then, you're good."

"Huh?" Naruto and Sasuke questioned in unison. The kid approached them and pointed a dramatic finger at them.

"Alright, I'll be your apprentice and you'll be my trainers!" he stated. They gave each other a questioning glance, seeing if the other knew what was going on but when it appeared neither did, they just turned back to the kid in front of them. "And afterwards," he continued. "You've gotta show me how to do that sexy jutsu thing you did on Grandpa Hokage!"

At this Naruto turned away. "This is some kind of joke isn't it?" he accused. The kid shook his head vigorously.

"No, I need a new trainer!" he complained. "Please boss!" Naruto seemed to perk up at this.

"Huh, boss?" he questioned curiously wondering if he'd heard right.

"Yeah, you guys are the boss!" the kid shouted. "Boss, boss, boss!" Naruto then blushed slightly and rubbed the under tip of his nose with his index finger. He chuckled.

"Well, how can we refuse?" he reached back and scratched his head while Sasuke gave him an incredulous look.

"Wait, who said anything about we?" he demanded. Naruto grinned goofily.

"Aww c'mon Sasuke, what can it hurt? Just one technique each, it'll be kind of fun don'tcha think?"

"What I think is that you're letting this whole idea of playing teacher go to your head and that it's gonna cause us trouble. We already have to clean a training ground for messing with the hokage faces," Sasuke pointed out. The kid perked up at this.

"Oh so you guys are already headed to a training ground? Then that'll be perfect! You can train me there!" Sasuke started trying to think of a way to ditch the kid and make Naruto come down from cloud nine. However, he came up short as Naruto decided to add to the dilemma.

"Yeah, that's a great idea and I can teach you the technique you want to know. Trust me kid, you're gonna be able to do a whole lot of embarrassing damage with this one. Why I've even taught Sasuke the technique so I guess that makes me master of masters!" Sasuke deadpanned as he realized what Naruto had just said.

"Wait, how the hell did you find out about that!?" he demanded. Naruto grinned wider, if it was even possible, and wagged a finger back and forth in front of Sasuke.

"Ah, ah, ah. That's for the master to know and the student to find out!" Sasuke flared up then smirked.

"Heh, fine then. I'll play along. But I won't be teaching him something like that, no. I'll teach him one of my own styles direct from the Uchiha clan fire style arsenal!" The kid's eyes grew to twice there size as he realized he was going to learn two new jutsu's from two awesome seeming ninja. Meanwhile Naruto and Sasuke wore smirks on their faces as they faced off already beginning to turn the whole thing into yet another competition. In their minds, it was on.

The first one up to teach the kid was Naruto. Sasuke headed towards the training field they were supposed to train in and clean with a shadow clone of Naruto while Naruto began to show the kid to where they'd need to go to start learning his technique.

"Listen," he started as they walked the crowded streets of Konoha. "You wanna be a master ninja then believe it! You've gotta learn how to control your **catra**!" The kid went into deep thought as he tried to figure out what Naruto meant.

 ** _Catra?_** He thought to himself. _A cat?_ A sudden image of a cat entered the kid's mind but Naruto interrupted his thought train.

"I said your Chatra!" Naruto confirmed. The kid seemed to finally catch on. He turned to his supposed new teacher.

"Boss…I uh…think you're talking about chakra," he stated. Naruto turned red as he realized he'd done it again. When he'd been younger, he'd gotten himself believing that the word was pronounced catra and even though he knew it was chakra, he still sometimes slipped up and said catra instead. He turned nervously to the little preschooler before him.

"Heh, heh, of course! I knew that already! I was just testing you that's all. In fact this is the exact same way I taught it to Sasuke" the preschooler's eyes lit up brighter than before.

"Wow really? You're amazing boss!" Naruto seemed taken aback by this. _Jeez, he believes anything I say,_ he thought to himself. He shook himself from his daze.

"Listen, I'll explain what chakra is now," he stated. However the kid beat him to the punch.

"Chakra is the elemental life energy that is used to perform jutsu!" Stated the kid, showing off what he already knew.

"Eh?" Naruto said shocked.

"The ninja arts combine physical energy from each cell in the body with mystical energy which is intensified through training and experience. When these two chakra mix, special hand signs allow the ninja to focus this combined energy for advanced jutsu," the kid finished reading from a scroll he'd pulled out halfway through. Naruto's eyebrow twitched.

"Know it all brat!" Naruto bellowed. "You were just reading that whole thing!" he shouted. A little ways later, Naruto finally got over his little fit and got back down to business.

"Yo, you can blab all you want about how to do ninja techniques but it really comes down to one thing," Naruto explained. The kid grew a serious expression as he wanted to learn what that one thing was.

"What is it?" he wondered. Naruto smirked.

"Just plain hard work and guts," Naruto finished.

"That's two things but okay I'm with you!" the kid declared proudly. An impressed Naruto gave a softer smile.

"Alright, I'm going to throw some really big challenges at you, are you ready?" The kid nodded excitedly.

"Good, then let's do it!" Naruto Exclaimed. "Show me a transformation!" the kid froze for a moment unsure of himself for a minute.

"Eh?" he questioned.

"Believe it! Show me what you can do and I'll take you to the next level," Naruto confirmed. The kid seemed to get most of it.

"Oh, right, sure but um…what do I transform into?" asked the preschooler. Naruto was taken aback for a split second by the question but then started to look around for a suitable candidate. He finally came across a young woman buying groceries from a stand a little ways away. He pointed with an index finger.

"There, yeah right you can transform into her," he suggested. The kid already pumped up and determined turned to face the woman.

"Right, here I go boss!" he exclaimed loudly as he brought his hands up to form the transformation jutsu sign. "Transform!" In a puff of smoke, there stood a larger, pudgier rendition of the woman at the stand. Naruto deadpanned as the kid placed a hand on his hip and jutted it outwards whilst placing a hand at the back of his head.

"Well…do I look like her?" asked the uglier version of the woman. Naruto remained stoic.

"Uh…the clothes…kinda look like her," he admitted. Suddenly Naruto's danger senses started tingling and he slowly turned around to see the same woman they were trying to imitate holding a threatening fist up and clearly looking peeved.

"That…looks like me?" she growled. Then before Naruto could do anything about it, he was at the receiving end of the blow from the clearly pissed off woman. Afterwards she put on a somewhat genuine smile as she turned to the preschooler who was quaking in his sandals.

"Now, now honorable grandson," she started. "Next time you transform into me, make me a little cuter okay?" and with that she waved goodbye and strode away. The kid remained paralyzed.

"She's…scary," he stammered. Meanwhile Naruto groaned from down on the ground and started trying to pick himself up.

"You did it," he complained. "Why am I the one that gets whacked around." A little while later, after having recovered from the recent beating and scare, Naruto decide to teach the kid the next step to his ultimate technique. He turned to him as they stood outside a magazine store.

"Alright, next we do some research on some female beauty," he declared. The kid was once again pumped and ready to go.

"Female beauty! Right boss!" the kid agreed. Next they quietly opened the door to the front of the store where the clerk was snoozing behind the counter and they snuck in and found the adults section. Naruto found and picked out the perfect magazine with swimsuit models and the boys began to peruse the many pages all the while, the two started giggling immaturely as they saw every partially naked woman.

Soon however, Naruto's danger senses went off again as he heard the whapping of a mop stick behind him. The store clerk growled down at him.

"This is not a library…Naruto!" The two boys froze in utmost terror as the sound of the thwapping broomstick brought forth a sense of dread. Once again before he could do anything, while the kid shielded himself from the wrath of the man with the mop, Naruto wound up being beaten again for the second time that day. Once again the kid found himself quaking in his sandals as they were kicked out of the store, Naruto more literally.

Finally they found themselves outside of the bath house. Naruto was chuckling despite his newly acquired black eye.

"Just a minor setback," he stated with a light laugh. "Now this is the last stop so give it everything you've got okay?" Once again pumped the boy jumped around to face the bath house.

"Everything, right boss!" he declared. Then the two brought up the appropriate hand signs for the transformation jutsu and in unison hollered, "Transform!" Disappearing in a puff of smoke two new figures appeared. One was a female with reddish brown hair; still chunky and was wearing the kid's clothes while the other was a female with bright blonde hair held back in two pigtails on the side with the three on each side whisker birthmarks and wearing Naruto's clothes.

Next the two gave each other a confirmative nod and then proceeded to try and enter the women's bath. Unfortunately for them, the kid's disguise was pretty much a dead give-away and there were some experienced chunin within the bath house as well who saw right through the guises not to mention some of Naruto's classmates who already knew his tricks. The girls screamed almost as soon as they entered and then proceeded to pummel Naruto , leaving a frightened little boy trembling in a corner since his guise wore off quicker.

Even later, Naruto and the kid approached the training arena with Naruto now having a big black eye and several new scratches and bruises all over his body.

"Why…do they only whack me?" he questioned no one in particular. Meanwhile a high pitched whistle sounded from the trees. Naruto and the kid looked up to see Sasuke resting on a tree branch, a wide grin on his face.

"So I assume training went well?" he questioned mockingly. "Of course the so called master of masters looks more like a loser than before with those new beauty marks in place." Naruto grumbled.

"Shut up! We haven't even gotten started yet so just you wait. It doesn't matter if I've been beaten. That's part of being a shinobi ya know!" he shouted back.

"Sorry," the kid suddenly said next him, causing both Sasuke and Naruto to look down at the little preschooler with questioning eyes. "It's cuz I'm the grandson of a hokage!" he stated bitterly. Naruto was slightly taken aback by his statement but his kinder tender gaze came through the somewhat beaten face.

"Hey, don't worry about it," he reassured him. "I've prepared you so now you're ready to learn the sexy jutsu. Believe it, you're just gonna need to practice ya know!" The kid held him with some awe then a grin jumped on his face.

"Practice, right boss!" And with that, the training for the sexy jutsu began. Sasuke meanwhile watched from his tree branch, already having decided which move he would teach the runt next when it was his turn. Now, all he needed to do was to watch and wait.

* * *

"Naruto," Ebisu, Konohamaru's sensei grumbled to himself atop a building's roof. He was still trying to find the little troublemaker. _What has he done with the honorable grandson? I ought to report this to Sarah or even Kisuke if he's around._ He thought to himself. He looked about as birds sounded off in the sky above.

"What's his evil plan; where did they go?" He wondered irritably. _I am a Jonin; the highest ninja level and I'm an elite trainer of future hokage. Any parasite that leeches onto my student…will be squashed._ He nodded his own confirmation before taking off again to search for the troublesome brat he believed to have taken his student hostage and the Uchiha kid who had been an unfortunate pawn in his game. At least that's what Ebisu believed.

Meanwhile, Sasuke had just finished trying to teach the kid how to do a simple fire jutsu technique that took a lot of practice but not as much chakra, one that Sarah had taught him in her first two years back in Konoha. It was known as the fire style, ribbon whip jutsu. So far, Konohamaru had been able to work his way through it as his natural chakra affinity was fire and he'd also been able to get better at the sexy jutsu Naruto had been teaching him. Finally, they'd not only taught Konohamaru two techniques but they'd also managed to somehow clean the whole training ground in no time as Naruto had decided to use his shadow clones to help.

Now finished with their work, they'd made their way to a small row of vending machines and had each gotten something refreshing to drink. They now sat on a log like bench across from the machines. Naruto took one big slurp of his soda, a burning question for the kid on his lips, ready to spill and spill it did.

"So…what's up with this obsession you've got with your grandfather?" he asked.

"Actually, I've been wondering the same thing," Sasuke confirmed as they turned to the kid. The kid looked down at his feet and started kicking them as he spoke up.

"My grandfather named me Konohamaru," he started, "After the ancient name of the village….so it should be easy to remember. But no one calls me that name…not one person in the whole village. That's cuz when they look at me they don't really see me. All they see is the 'Honorable Grandson' of the Lord Hokage." No one knows who I am." He hung his head lower and Naruto and Sasuke gave each other a look then glanced back at him. They knew how it felt too.

Before Sarah had come…Naruto had always…always been alone and nobody noticed him. They just saw him as the nine tailed fox that had destroyed their village all those years ago. As for Sasuke, he'd just been the youngest of the Uchiha clan, a powerful clan and with big shoes to fill since his father had been head of the clan and his older brother before going rogue that night had been an outstanding prodigy whom everyone would bring up whenever Sasuke was around. Now it was somewhat the same with Sarah too as she was the new head of the clan and she was also a legendary cat sage but at least now he could finally breathe more without every eye on him, criticizing him and expecting him to become great. Naruto and Sarah had helped out with that.

"I can't stand it anymore," Konohamaru continued. "It's like I'm invisible; like I don't exist…I hate that. That's the reason…I've got to become a hokage now so people know who I am!" Silence fell upon the three for some time then Naruto laughed some.

"Heh, get real. You think people are going to accept a squirt like you?" Konohamaru and Sasuke looked up at him with surprise. "A kid can't just turn into a hokage after a day or two."

"What!?" Konohamaru demanded angrily getting on his feet. Sasuke just continued drinking his drink.

"It's not that simple," Naruto explained. "You keep saying hokage, hokage. To really be a hokage, you know what you'll have to do?" Konohamaru glared at Naruto the way any kid would demanding an answer.

"What…what is it?" he wanted to know. A smile grew on Naruto's features as he turned to face Konohamaru, his eyes full of determination.

"You're gonna have to defeat me in battle!" he stated simply. Sasuke smirked and continued to calmly sip his drink. Konohamaru seemed stunned by this but then a smile grew on his features too.

"Heh, if that's how it's gonna be…then I'll face you…and I'll win!" Naruto chuckled.

"Not if you don't start working hard ya runt!"

"Who're you calling a runt?" Konohamaru jabbed back poking Naruto in the side.

"What, you of course. You're puny," he retorted. The two kept exchanging back and forth for quite some time and Sasuke had to roll his eyes at their simplicity. Eventually this led to a wrestling contest on the ground between the three, laughing and having a good time about themselves. Suddenly a crisp voice snapped out at them.

"I found you!" it exclaimed. The three boys stopped in the middle of their scuffle with Naruto on the ground holding firmly onto Konohamaru's leg while Sasuke sat on top of Naruto holding Konohamaru in a headlock and his foot pushing against Naruto's cheek. They were covered with dirt all over. Ebisu had arrived and was standing atop a tree branch glaring down at them…well….glaring down at Naruto…directing a cold icy stare upon him. Sasuke noticed and tensed, not liking the stare at all and neither did Naruto. The boys exited their wrestling hold and started to stand up defensively.

 _That icy stare,_ Naruto thought to himself. _They all look at me that way!_

 _It really pisses me off,_ Sasuke thought as he started sending a similar stare back at Ebisu. Ebisu paid no heed to the Uchiha's stare. He simply leapt down on the ground and approached them. He turned his gaze upon Konohamaru.

"So honorable grandson," he started. "Time to go home." He adjusted his glasses.

"No way!" Konohamaru yelled back. "I'm learning how to beat my grandfather so I can get the title hokage! Now don't get in my way!" Ebisu scoffed as he walked towards the trio.

"A hokage is more than just a fighter," Ebisu explained. "He must know virtue, honor, wisdom and he must be skilled at a thousand jutsu. You don't even know one jutsu." Konohamaru's eye twitched and then without warning he brought his hands up to form a hand sign sending a bunch of chakra into his new jutsu.

"Transform!" he yelled. Ebisu stopped in his tracks as he watched and his eyes widened considerably under his glasses when he saw what was now before him. A young and beautiful woman who was naked. She held her hands behind her brown hair and gave Ebisu a smug smile.

"Hi there, like my jutsu?" she asked. Ebisu's jaw nearly hit the ground as he yelled out in surprise. Konohamaru decided then, coming up with the idea on his own, to kick it up a notch.

"Well then…how do you like this?" the girl asked. She performed the hand signs for the jutsu Sasuke had taught her and produced a near perfect fire ribbon whip which she whipped out, making a crack in the air spinning and twirling it around near her naked body like a ribbon dancer. Ebisu's nose began to bleed as Konohamaru finally reverted into his former self. Sasuke face palmed.

"Damn it! How is it that my jutsu made that one more effective?" he groaned. Naruto Chuckled.

"I dunno but that was awesome. Extra points for improv," he stated giving Konohamaru a thumbs up and wide grin. Konohamaru accepted the gesture and turned back to Ebisu.

"Hey, how come he's not defeated?" he complained. Sasuke and Naruto too turned back to see Ebisu twitching then…

"What…what…what kind of scandalous technique is that!" he demanded to know dramatically. Sasuke grinned at his overall reaction and almost lost himself laughing at how simple grown men could be. Naruto was still paying attention to Ebisu though.

"Such tasteless vulgarity could never influence me!" he declared. "I am far above it!" Then, trying to get a grip on himself he attempted to take Konohamaru by force by tugging on him but this just led to a tug of war with Konohamaru pulling as hard as he could back against Ebisu pulling on his scarf.

"Honorable grandson, stop this right now!" he shouted. Naruto and Sasuke could only watch the spectacle with mild amusement. "Naruto's turning you into a delinquent like he did to that poor Uchiha over there. Only my special training can put you on the fast track to becoming a hokage!"

"Just leave…me…alone!" Konohamaru retorted. The other boys continued to watch.

"He's losing against a kid," Sasuke stated deadpanning.

"Well I'm not surprised," Naruto agreed. "He's weak and he's a closet pervert…I mean…his nose bled when the flames came out…" Naruto stopped midsentence as he got a devious idea then turned to Sasuke. "So he thinks he's above our tricks does he?" Sasuke gave his brother a wary look.

"What are you planning?" he asked skeptically. Naruto rubbed his hands together.

"Oh nothing too fancy but you'll see. I just need your help with one thing K? You don't have to like doing it but the results will be hilarious," he assured. Sasuke sighed knowing he'd be hearing it either way.

"Alright let's hear it." Naruto grinned.

"It's quite simple really…how does one get to a closet pervert?" Sasuke didn't answer. "You simple overload their closet." Sasuke's eyes widened. Naruto continued grinning. Sasuke was about to protest but Konohamaru was starting to yell louder. He sighed, turning to his brother.

"Nobody hears about this!" he ordered Naruto. Naruto saluted.

"Yes sir!" Afterwards he turned back to the two tug of war contestants.

"Let…go…of me!" Konohamaru commanded.

"No! I will save you from that hooligan!" Ebisu promised.

" **Shadow Clone Jutsu!** " Naruto suddenly yelled, calling their attention. Ebisu and Konohamaru turned to see that now in the clearing was at least a dozen or more Naruto's standing before them. The shock made Ebisu let go of Konohamaru's scarf who was gawking at Naruto's newest technique.

"Woah! This is…unreal!" Ebisu just scoffed. He pushed his glasses up on his face.

"I'm not impressed," he declared. "I'm a Jonin an elite ninja warrior. I'm not some lightweight like Mizuki. Watch how a real ninja defeats an upstart." He then walked right into the middle of the shadow clones of Naruto. Naruto grinned but Ebisu ignored it. Konohamaru watched too, a little worried.

"C'mon boss," he whispered. He then looked around, noticing that Sasuke was no longer in the clearing. "Hey where'd Sasuke go?" he wondered to himself. His attention was brought back to Naruto as the blonde and all of his clones brought their hands up to form a hand sign.

"Transform!" they all shouted. Suddenly several clouds of smoke appeared as every Naruto was transformed to reveal…a naked harem of sexy girls in their place. Once again Ebisu's jaw almost hit the ground and he began twitching some as all of the naked female Naruto's converged on him. Each one tried to touch him and if that wasn't enough, suddenly someone from the trees shouted out,

" **Fire Style: Ribbon Whip Jutsu!** " and suddenly every one of the girls was seemingly dancing through strings of fire as if they were harmless, the fire ribbons curving with the girl's curves. Ebisu couldn't contain himself this time as he let out a loud yell and flew backwards through the air via nose bleed, spinning some in the air and coming down to land hard on the ground. He twitched some like a dead fish before passing out from sheer amount of lost blood. Naruto transformed back and dispersed all of his clones while Sasuke came out of his hiding spot to stand by his brother.

"Heh, looks like we got im with our new Harem fire dance Jutsu!" Naruto proclaimed. Sasuke groaned.

"Please don't give what we just did a name. It feels weirder that way." Naruto just giggled. Konohamaru looked down and kicked a stone. By this time, the sun was beginning to go down. Suddenly Konohamaru clenched his fists in frustration.

"Oh man!" he complained. "I couldn't even beat that snobby trainer of mine. I wanna be hokage so bad but I keep messing up. Why can't I do it?!" Naruto turned towards Konohamaru while Sasuke, being bored, picked up a stick and started poking the now unconscious teacher.

"Quit whining kid," he sighed as he continued to poke the Jonin.

"You really think it's that easy?" Naruto asked him. Konohamaru exchanged glances between the two.

"Huh?"

"To be hokage, you have to be the greatest of all ninja; you have to prove yourself so everyone believes in you." Konohamaru relaxed his fists a little. "Look at me n' Sasuke…we've been through a lot already. I've been ignored, pushed away and treated like I have the plague or something and Sasuke…he lost most of his family in one night. But even after all of that…we've found people even if only a few who believe in us. To find them…we had to get knocked down a lot." At this Naruto stuffed his hands in his pockets and turned to play with the dirt at his feet.

"So you'd better make sure that you're ready!" he stated.

"For what," Konohamaru asked curiously. Naruto turned away again to stare at a tree.

"For lots of sweat…and tears…while you're learning to be a ninja." With that silence overtook the field.

"Ya know," started a voice. Naruto, Sasuke and Konohamaru whirled around. "That's why it's a good thing to be young," said Kisuke as he came into the clearing, hands in his pockets.

"Kisuke," Sasuke exclaimed surprised.

"What're you doing here?" Naruto asked. Kisuke chuckled.

"I decided to come get you boys after Sarah examined the training field. You did a good job. But back to what I was saying before." he turned towards Konohamaru smiling. "It's a good thing to be young when you start chasing your dreams. That way when you face those sweat n' tears along the way, you still have time to keep going and push forward even after being knocked down. It's what makes the goal worth it in the end, especially…when you look back at where you used to be or where you started from and realize…you did it. Young and a dreamer….it's a good place to be." Konohamaru gazed at Kisuke in wonder as he approached and messed with his helmet some like someone trying to ruffle his hair. Sasuke had decided to quit poking Ebisu with a stick as Kisuke had arrived.

Naruto smiled as he turned around fully now to face Konohamaru, placing his hands behind his head while grinning.

"Yeah, that's right n' by the way…there is no easy way to becoming hokage…believe it ya know." Some wind came to blow through the trees. Sasuke shivered finding it somewhat chilly since he was wearing a t-shirt and shorts. Konohamaru meanwhile reflected upon what he'd learned that day. His eyes were opened wide now and he now understood. He then held a serious face.

"Hah, who do you think you are anyway giving me a big lecture like that!" he huffed turning away. "That's it…I'm not going to be your apprentice anymore." He turned back half way to face Naruto.

"From now on…we're rivals." He grinned then, showing his one chipped tooth. Naruto smiled back.

"Well I can't be your trainer anyway because tomorrow…Sasuke and I start our advanced ninja studies." Sasuke scoffed as he too grew a small smile on his face.

"Humph, not that I was gonna continue anyway. One day babysitting was enough for me," He yawned and stretched towards the sky. The other two chuckled.

"Yeah but anyways, I accept your challenge and someday…we'll fight for the title…Lord Hokage." Konohamaru looked at Naruto with admiration. "So let's both look forward for that day…Konohamaru." Konohamaru seemed shocked that somebody had actually called him by his name for the first time ever other than his grandfather. Kisuke chuckled.

"Well then…it seems you three have had an eventful day. Why don't you head home now…Naruto…Sasuke. I'll walk home Konohamaru here and take Ebisu to the hospital. Sarah will be waiting for you with dinner when you get there." The two boys smiled.

"Okay, sounds good to me!" Naruto exclaimed. He gave a wave to Konohamaru. "See ya round kid!" he called as he ran off in the direction of home. Sasuke managed to wave too before running after his brother.

"Hey slow down loser! We don't have to rush!" Meanwhile, as they slowed to a walking pace and walked away, Konohamaru stood behind them for quite some time, saluting them and thanking them silently for what they'd done for him. After which Kisuke, hefted Ebisu over his shoulder and began dragging him through the streets with Konohamaru right beside him, sharing stories of his best day ever.

* * *

The next day started with the sun rising as usual. Naruto rested peacefully in his bed, somewhat exhausted from the cleaning he'd had to do the day before added onto teaching Konohamaru new tricks and then showing the closet pervert sensei of his why he shouldn't mess with Naruto or Sasuke.

Naruto was then aware of something chilling on his back. It felt wet and was making its way up towards his face. He tried to brush it off as just a draft but then a splash of cold water in his face had him leaping out of bed and yelling in surprise. He went into a defensive pose.

"Who's attacking? Is the room on fire? Tell me did the broth get cold; did we drown?!" he shifted back and forth from stance to stance, heartbeat accelerated and sending water droplets flying everywhere.

"Geez, have you been snacking on cupped ramen before bed again or what?" Sasuke questioned.

"Huh?" Naruto spun around to see Sasuke crouched expertly on his headboard and holding a semi-empty water bottle which was dripping at the nozzle. Realizing what'd happened and waking up from his heavy dream from before, Naruto pointed an angry finger at his brother.

"You!" he yelled. "Sasuke! How many times have I told you not to sneak into my room and wake me up like that!?" he hollered. Sasuke shrugged.

"About as many times as you've told me not to sneak into your room and wake you up by other methods I suppose," he stated plainly as he hopped off the bed. Then he threw something at Naruto and Naruto caught it. "I've lost count to be honest. Here quit whining and get dressed already. We have to be at the Academy soon for orientation and I don't wanna be late this time. Today's an all new chapter." At first it took Naruto a while to process what he'd said and then he looked towards his wall calendar where he'd circled today's date with words around it saying, "Today we're Ninjas!" He grinned.

"Oh right! Today's when we finally get put into squads or something!" he began giggling as he began getting dressed in a hurry. Sasuke crossed his room to the door and called back over his shoulder.

"Breakfast in five," he said before he exited to leave the hyperactive blonde to get ready. He threw off his damp clothes, leaving them on the bed and pulled on his one of a kind orange and blue jumpsuit over a black t-shirt with the Uzumaki crest on the back, zipping it up all the way. He remembered the looks Sasuke and Sarah had given him when he'd pointed it out to them. They'd tried to talk him into something less flashy to which Kisuke had just laughed saying that his hair was flashy on its own and getting something to compliment it and his personality was something respectable. Sarah had finally given in and had also ended up buying him his green goggles in the same day. Sasuke had still tried to talk him out of it but eventually gave up, forever accepting that Orange would have to be his colour.

Now as he adjusted his jumpsuit in the mirror. He couldn't help but smile at the long ago memory. Then he instinctively reached out for his goggles but instead stopped midway as he remembered his new ninja headband. His hand hovered over the goggles for a while before changing direction and picking up his headband grinning and staring at the symbol for a bit. _That's right…today we start as Genin. I've finally graduated from goggles,_ he thought to himself. And with that he positioned the headband around his head and tied it tight, adjusting it some in the mirror before giving a curt nod.

"Naruto…breakfast!" Sarah's soprano voice sang up to him. He looked up from the mirror and ran from the room.

"Coming!" he called back. He ran down the hall and the stairs, skidding into the kitchen. He took a big sniff and entered, stomach grumbling. "Man am I starving!" he exclaimed. Sasuke was already at the table with Sarah and Kisuke eating his breakfast of scrambled eggs and sausage. Naruto sat down next to him as Sarah placed his plate in front of him.

"So, did you boys get a good night's sleep last night?" she asked beaming. She felt so proud that her little brothers were finally going to become ninja…that was if they passed whatever test their new sensei had planned. She wasn't too worried though. After reading the results and who got paired with who with the Hokage's permission of course, she'd had to agree that their chosen teacher was actually a good match up for them. Naruto had begun stuffing his face but that didn't stop him from replying.

"Yeah you bet and I'm rearing to go!" Sarah let out a light laugh as did Kisuke.

"Well that's good to hear," Kisuke stated. "Can't have you falling asleep on your first day as ninja now can we?" He chuckled, reaching over to ruffle the blonde's hair.

"Hey, Kisuke you're messing up my headband," Naruto complained.

"Heh, no I'm not," he protested. Naruto grumbled and reached for the carton of milk on the table and a glass. In his past life he would've just drunk out of the carton but since being adopted, Sarah had had to break him of the habit. He poured himself a glass of milk and began drinking. Sasuke side glanced his brother nonchalantly then looked back at his food plate.

"So Naruto…how's the milk?" he asked.

"Mmm!" Naruto emphasized as he continued drinking.

"Interesting," Sasuke stated. "And here I thought no one liked to drink it expired." Naruto froze mid gulp and choked on his drink following up with a spit take and more coughing and spluttering. Kisuke reached over and patted his back to help him out while Sarah reached for the milk and frowned as she read the expiry date.

"Kisuke, you didn't happen to go shopping when you got back from your work the other day did you?" she questioned him. Kisuke gave a sheepish smile.

"Sorry, I had thought that you'd gone before you'd left. My bad!" He reached back and scratched the back of his head. "Heh, sorry about that Naruto," he apologized.

"Sorry!" Naruto reeled incredulously. "You could've killed me!" Sasuke snorted.

"Damn it; stop being such a drama queen. You're not gonna die," he said. Naruto whirled around on him.

"Don't you start! You could've warned me before I drank some!" Naruto protested.

"No I couldn't have. I only noticed the date when you poured it." Naruto began grumbling and Sarah sighed.

"Don't worry about it Naruto, I'll give you something to keep you from getting cramps and or getting the runs. Just finish your breakfast." Kisuke gave everyone a grin then.

"Hey it could've been worse guys." They gave Kisuke a look as he chuckled. "We could've been having cereal this morning." The boys took that into consideration and sighed.

Naruto and Sasuke finished their breakfast and before he left, Sarah gave Naruto a special food pill to help him get by. Then the two bid their elder brother and sister goodbye and started off towards the academy.

Along the way they came across a piece of cloth against a fence that was supposed to be acting as camouflage. As soon as they were close enough, Konohamaru dropped the cloth and addressed Naruto.

"You're mine Naruto!" he declared. However, before he could attack he tripped over the camouflage sheet he'd dropped and landed on his face again. Naruto and Sasuke gave him a questioning look.

"Uh…what do you think you're doing…Konohamaru?" Naruto asked deadpanned. The kid in front of the two groaned.

"That was a slick move," he moaned through the dirt. He began to get up. "That's why I respect you as a rival." Naruto raised an eyebrow and there was a long pause.

"But I didn't do anything," Naruto said plainly. Sasuke scoffed.

"Only the second day and he's switched from attacking the third hokage to attacking you," he snickered. Naruto ignored him. Konohamaru finally got up all the way and made the hand sign meant for the sexy jutsu.

"Alright, now fight me fair n' square," Konohamaru commanded. Naruto scratched the back of his head and remained cool and casual.

"Sorry," he apologized. "I've got an orientation." Konohamaru lifted his head confused.

"Orientation?" he questioned.

"At the academy," Sasuke stated. "Today's the day we officially start as ninjas." Naruto grinned at this and then jabbed a thumb towards the new blue clothed headband he was wearing.

"That's right, as of today we're both ninjas; believe it ya know!" Konohamaru gazed at their headbands with awe and admiration. Sasuke shoved his hands in his pockets and walked ahead.

"Sorry kid, but if we don't wanna be late, we've gotta get going. C'mon Naruto." Naruto who'd still been showing off his headband to Konohamaru snapped out of his own little world and ran to catch up to Sasuke.

"Right, coming!" He turned back grinning and walking backwards from Konohamaru while waving. "See ya later Konohamaru!" he called. Konohamaru waved after them.

"Yeah ok, but don't think I won't find you again. I'll get you yet Naruto and Sasuke!" Naruto chuckled as he turned to face forwards again and kept on walking. The two boys finally made it to the academy and entered the slowly filling classroom and found their seats. As the class began to fill up, they wondered just who their trainers would be. Suddenly Shikamaru walked by, noticing Naruto.

"Huh, what are you doing here Naruto? This isn't for dropouts…you can't be here unless you graduate," he stated. Sasuke scoffed.

"You're one to talk dropout!" he retorted in his brother's defense.

"Oh yeah," Naruto protested as he once again indicated his new headband to someone. "Do you see this; do ya see this? Open your eyes sleepy Shikamaru, it's a regulation headband. We're gonna be training together! How do you like that?"

"Yeah well how?" Shikamaru wondered. "I heard you failed the exam."

"He did," Sasuke confirmed. "But then he passed it. Sensei gave him another shot." Shikamaru gave a short unenthusiastic laugh.

"Heh yeah? How long did you have to beg before he let you?" Naruto growled.

"Humph, I didn't have to at all. I just asked him like a mature adult, plain and simple. Admit it though Shikamaru, I look way cooler in my headgear than a lazy guy like you. Better pick up the slack or I'll leave you behind." Shikamaru tsk'd and looked away.

"Whatever. Like I have anything better to do than to get into a pointless competition. I like life in the slow lane thank you very much. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to go and find my seat." He left a baffled Naruto behind wondering how a guy as lazy as himself could've possibly made Genin. Naruto just stuck his tongue out after him. Sasuke meanwhile just leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes and patiently waited.

Meanwhile, a girl with blue hair watched from her seat from behind them and fidgeted with her fingers as she was glad that Naruto had mad Genin like her. Suddenly though, everyone's thoughts and conversations were interrupted as there came a commotion at the back door. Everyone turned heads to see two girls fighting to get into the classroom.

Finally they both made it in and were out of breath. One had pale blonde hair while the other one had light pink hair. Their names were Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka and while Naruto and Sasuke were the most competitive boys in their class, those two had to be the most competitive girls. The annoying part was, in Sasuke's opinion, that they fought over who would be his girlfriend. Like he had time for that when he was training to get stronger than his older brother someday.

"I won again Sakura," Ino said between pants as she glared at her rival. Sakura glared back.

"Give it up," she stated. "I had to look back to see you, my toe was at least a tenth of an inch ahead."

"Have you always been this delusional?" Ino countered. Sasuke had one eyelid cracked open, barely amused when he noticed Naruto staring at Sakura with a flushed red colour on his cheeks. Sasuke sighed and closed his eye again.

"Seriously…what do you see in her?" he sighed. Naruto continued staring at the rosette with a dreamy stare.

"Oh come on…don't tell me you haven't got a crush on somebody Sasuke I mean…she's pretty and wow…whenever she smiles…it just makes me feel warm inside." Sasuke brought his feet up on the desk in front of him and leaned back more.

"Whatever you say and for the record…I don't get into stuff like that so just drop it. Besides, I have more important things to focus on." Naruto turned about to face Sasuke this time.

"Oh yeah, like what?" he challenged. Sasuke opened his eyes and stared out the window nostalgically.

"I have to find Itachi someday…remember. I have few questions I need to ask him before I take his life." Naruto deadpanned.

"Jeez, you still on about that? It's not like you're gonna die tomorrow so why rush it? You've got plenty of time for that." Sasuke scoffed again and turned away.

"You weren't there…you wouldn't understand." Naruto lowered his head to his desk as he glared at his brother.

"Humph, only cuz you won't let me," he argued. He turned his head away from Sasuke and looked back up at Sakura who'd now entered a glaring and insult contest with Ino. He sighed as he watched her long flowing pink hair and he wondered if it was actually soft like a Sakura blossom.

"You know they flock to me don't you?" Sasuke interrupted his thoughts. Naruto grumbled.

"Yeah and what's that supposed to mean? I thought you just said you don't like girls."

"Humph, I don't. I'm just saying that for some weird reason they won't leave me alone. I don't understand girls whatsoever." Naruto turned to glare at him again.

"Seriously?" he asked flabbergasted. "Ya know what you can't fool me Sasuke. One of these days, whether you like it or not…you're gonna fall for someone and one of those someone's might be from this very classroom." Sasuke humphed again in protest and turned his head away from his brother.

"I don't think so," he stated. Naruto then pointed towards Ino and Sakura well…mostly Sakura.

"Oh come on! Take a good look for once and say she's not pretty," Naruto challenged. Sasuke turned back to glare at Naruto, then not knowing what was happening next, he was following Naruto's finger to glance at Sakura who was still in her glaring contest with Ino. He stared for some time before becoming transfixed by the pink hair flowing down her back. He sighed finally and turned away.

"Fine…her hair's…kind of…pretty," he blushed. "But that's all!" Naruto grinned.

"See…all you have to do is put those other things on hold for like a fraction of a minute and you never know what you'll start to notice. Just don't get carried away with one thing k?" he patted Sasuke on the back with a big grin on his face but then it turned serious. "Oh but Sakura's still mine got it?" he stated seriously. Sasuke crossed his arms.

"Fine by me but maybe you should tell her that," he stated. Naruto puffed out his chest.

"Humph! Well then maybe I will!" he exclaimed. Then he turned around to find Sakura actually coming towards him. He smiled and got ready to go for it.

"Hey Sakura what's up?" he called out, standing up.

"Move it!" Sakura demanded as she shoved Naruto out of the way. Sasuke went back to not paying attention to much anything except the fact he'd called it with Naruto. As Naruto picked himself up into a sitting position, he heard Sakura begin to speak.

"Uh, good morning Sasuke," she spoke shyly. "Mind if I sit next to you?" However, before Sasuke could even register what was going on, Ino made her way down to the now vacant seat too.

"Back off forehead, I'm sitting next to Sasuke!" she declared, grabbing Sakura by the arm.

"I was here first!" Sakura hissed back at Ino. Ino glared at her.

"I walked into the classroom before you did, everybody saw it!" This of course started a chain reaction as more girls began to gather around the location of Naruto's old seat.

"Dream on!" Sakura retorted.

"Actually I got here before either of you," said another girl with bushy pigtails coming up.

"So did I," protested another. "I'm sitting next to Sasuke!"

"No I am!" Sasuke began to sweat in his seat. _Naruto, please get back in your seat,_ he silently begged in his head. The last thing he wanted was to be seated next to even one squealing fangirl. Naruto meanwhile, was just marveling at the fact he'd become invisible again. Whenever it came to Sasuke and his fangirls, Naruto was nonexistent. He grumbled some.

 _Geez, you'd think they'd crush on somebody else for a while._ He grumbled in his thoughts. The girls continued arguing as he stood up and started backing away from them. Shikamaru meanwhile had been listening to it for a while as he finally let out an audible groan.

"You all know that Naruto was sitting there first before most of you came in right? Why do all you girls have to be so damn bothersome?" he complained rubbing his temples. Ino shot a glare at Shikamaru.

"Oh yeah, well who asked you huh and why do you care?" she snapped.

"Yeah, Naruto always sits by Sasuke so why not give us a turn?" demanded another girl. Shikamaru just sighed and covered his ears.

"Because you annoy the living crap out of the poor guy and Naruto's his brother so it doesn't need to be discussed further and as to why I and all the other guys care is because your squeals and squabbles are so goddamn annoying!"

"Amen!" Naruto praised him as he finally managed to jump up on the top of the desk where he'd been sitting. He remained crouched down and Sasuke sighed with relief. Sakura pointed threateningly at Naruto.

"Naruto, you get away from Sasuke right now!" she threatened through clenched teeth. Naruto gave her a slightly hurt expression.

"What, but Sakura…" he tried. However Sakura was cracking her knuckles.

"She said get away Naruto…it's our turn to sit by Sasuke!" Ino growled. Naruto knew this was going to get bad. Most of the girls in his class didn't like him much mostly because of how their parents acted around him and because he sometimes snuck into the girl's locker room at the bath house and…well now that he thought of it, the last one was his own fault but honestly some of their rage was unjustifiable. Luckily however, Iruka sensei entered the classroom at that very minute.

"Alright everyone, if you could please take your seats," he stated as he reached the front of the room. Naruto tried to sit down back in his original seat but during the time Iruka had distracted everyone by entering, Sakura had taken this as her opportunity to jump the seat she wanted, knocking Naruto over in the process. Ino noticed.

"Hey…billboard brow!" Ino tried to get into another argument but Sakura just stuck her tongue out at her rival as she tenderly took her seat next to Sasuke. Naruto sat up again, having caught himself from falling over completely into the next row.

"Hey but Sakura that's…" he tried to speak again.

"Oh take the end if you want but don't you dare tell me to move!" she ordered. Naruto knew better than to mess with an angry Sakura and seeing as it was Sakura and that she'd told him to take the end seat…then that would mean… _Sweet, I'll get to sit next to Sakura!_ He exclaimed in his thoughts. Ino had been planning to take the end seat even to be a little closer to Sasuke but Naruto beat her to it.

"Hey!" she protested. Iruka looked up at her and the other girls who were still drifting near the end of their isle.

"Is there a problem girls?" he questioned in his authoritative tone. The girls immediately began dispersing not wanting to get on Iruka's bad side. Ino looked about at the dispersing girls baffled.

"But I…" she tried.

"Sometime today Ms. Yamanaka," Iruka ordered. Ino then turned angry and glared at Sakura sitting peachy in the middle of Sasuke and Naruto.

"This isn't over forehead!" she glowered. Sakura responded by sticking her tongue out again with her eyes closed, her face one of triumph as she also made a two fingered peace sign, sending Ino on her way, storming back to a seat next to Shikamaru in the row behind them. Finally all the students were seated and Iruka could begin.

"As of today, you are all ninjas," Iruka began, beaming with pride for his students. "To get here you faced difficult trials and hardships. But that's nothing…what comes next will be far more difficult. Now you're only genin, first level ninjas. All the genin will be grouped into three man squads. Each squad will be led by a Jonin, an elite ninja." This caught everyone but Naruto and Sasuke by surprise as they'd looked ahead and had found this out from Sarah earlier on. It hadn't been too long since their last fight and now Sakura and Ino were glaring daggers at each other.

"Well somebody's gotta be in Sasuke's group," Ino hinted. "I wonder who." She grinned.

"I don't know," Sakura replied. They continued to stare daggers into one another. Meanwhile Sasuke was praying to god that he wasn't stuck with either Ino or Sakura. Naruto was itching to be on a team with Sasuke since they could work more on their more fine-tuned skills from home that way. He couldn't care less who the other guy was though it would be great to have Sakura on his team. Iruka continued speaking.

"We want each squad to have a balance of strengths and abilities so that's how we set them up," he explained. "I will now announce the squads starting from one through to ten, skipping over nine mind you as we already have a squad nine from last year." Not really getting how that added up, Naruto settled in to wait for his turn to be called. _Please be Sakura and Sasuke, please be Sakura and Sasuke,_ he kept thinking in his head. Finally, what felt like an eternity to Naruto later, Iruka got to the seventh team.

"Squad seven," Iruka called out. "Naruto Uzumaki…" Naruto was all ears now as he heard his name and started sitting on the edge of his seat. "Sakura Haruno…" Iruka called next. _Wow, no way, right off the bat. Of all the great luck. Now just throw Sasuke into the mix and we'll be set._ Naruto began grinning from ear to ear as Sakura hung her head. _I'm doomed_ , she thought. Iruka called the last name.

"…And Sasuke Uchiha!" Suddenly Sakura's face lit up and she forgot that Naruto was her other teammate but Naruto was just overjoyed. He shot up out of his seat with his arms thrown in the air.

"Whoo hoo…I won the lottery!" he exclaimed happily. While everyone stared at Naruto's scene, no one noticed Sasuke face palm. _I'm am so doomed_! He thought to himself as Sakura Haruno squealed with delight beside him.


End file.
